Coffman relishes role as leader

Raymore (Mo.) Raymore-Peculiar quarterback Cameron Coffman has been a well known recruiting commodity ever since he put his name on the national map with a 430-yard passing performance in the first half of a game as a sophomore.

And now that he's going into his senior season, there are monster expectations for the 6-foot-2, 180-pound dual-threat quarterback.

But that's all right. Coffman is used to having the spotlight shown on him and his family. His father was an NFL legend, and his oldest brother is in the NFL and his other brother is a quarterback at Kansas State.

"I talk to them every week and have been very supportive," Coffman said. "We're all each other's biggest fans, really encourage each other and see how each other are doing. We're all excited for each other as we are for ourselves.

"We're trying to win state. We'd be selling ourselves short if we settled for anything else. It'll be tough. We've got a lot of young players that will have to play. So we might go through some struggles early, but we're going to have to improve every single week and play our best football when district comes. "

Coffman said he's excited that this Ray-Pec team will finally be his team. He's started early in his career, but now that he's a senior he is a little more comfortable with his role as a leader.

"Really good players make everybody around them better, not just themselves, so I'm excited to try and make my team better and take them on my back," Coffman said.

"It's a little different when you're the oldest one. They tend to listen to you more than when you're younger. When you're younger, it's kind of hard to talk to older kids, but it helps when you're older and they'll listen a lot better."

Coffman already has scholarship offers from Arizona State, Iowa State, Kansas State, Nebraska and Wyoming. He said those schools are places he remains very interested in, but some new schools have entered the mix in the spring evaluation process.

"I've gotten to talk to a lot of new schools, had some coaches come to the school and went and visited some schools ," he said.

"Right now I'm just trying to feel everybody out and see what I like. I'm not really leaning anywhere yet. I've talked to some other people lately like Boston College, Notre Dame and Stanford, but I'm not really sure. I'm just keeping my options open."

Coffman, much like his brothers did, isn't going to rush into a decision.

"There's not a time table at all," Coffman said. "I'm just wanting to make sure I know where I want to go. I'm not going to commit somewhere and de-commit. I want to make sure I'm 100 percent and 100 percent sure I'm going there before I commit."