Keon Coleman
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Keon Coleman of the Buffalo Bills has a fan in Michigan State basketball coach Tom Izzo.
Fans of the Buffalo Bills might not call Keon Coleman tough, but they don’t know the wide receiver the way Tom Izzo does.
The Michigan State basketball coach opened up about Keon Coleman’s tenure with the Spartans basketball team with Kay Adams on the Up and Adams Show recently.
Izzo, of course, is the national-championship-winning coach of the Spartans, who again has them in title contention in this year’s NCAA Tournament. The Spartans will take on East Region No. 2 seed Connecticut on Friday night in Washington, D.C.
Coleman has played two uneven season since the Bills selected with the 33rd overall pick of the 2024 NFL Draft from Florida State, where he transferred to from East Lansing. Coleman had 38 catches for 404 yards in 2025 and has posted 67 catches for 960 yards in two seasons with Buffalo.
Tom Izzo: Keon Coleman ‘Could Have Been a Good’ Basketball Player
Coleman started his college-athletics career at Michigan State, playing two seasons of college football there but only spent one year with Izzo and the Michigan State basketball team.
He averaged just 0.8 points per game, in just 1.7 minutes per game during his freshman season, 2021-22, before he switched to football full time. Still, Izzo thinks there could have been more in the tank if Coleman decided to play basketball full time.
“Keon, I helped recruit him, if he had put all his efforts into basketball, I think he could have been a good player,” Izzo said. “A pro? I don’t know yet.”
But Izzo feels Coleman made the right choice by sticking with football. Coleman had a breakout sophomore season in East Lansing by putting up 798 yards and seven touchdowns before becoming a bona fide pro prospect in Tallahassee, where he had 11 touchdowns in 12 games for the Seminoles.
Even though he left East Lansing, the Bills wideout has a fan in his former basketball coach. The two caught up while the Spartans were in Western New York, and Izzo said he is rooting hard for Coleman’s success.
“I’m hoping he has a big year next year,” Izzo said. “I loved coaching Keon. He did everything I asked him to do.”
Tom Izzo Thinks Keon Coleman is ‘Tough’
Coleman has battled with inconsistency, both on and off the field. But according to Izzo, he still is tough.
“I love coaching football guys because there’s a different toughness to them,” Izzo said.
Izzo knows too, since the Spartans are often one of the most physically bruising teams in both the nation and Big Ten.
Still, Coleman is going to need to show that toughness in 2026. The Bills wideout had a dreadful second season then was hung out to dry by both general manager Brandon Beane and owner Terry Pegula during a now-infamous end-of-season press conference.
But Coleman is still under contract for two more seasons on his rookie deal, which means he will be in Buffalo for the foreseeable future. Aside from his physical toughness, Coleman is about to show mental toughness as well and can earn the right to be a top-two NFL receiver.