CHICO — Chico High running back Dion Coleman returned to the football field for the first time in nearly a calendar year last week, after leaving the Panthers’ game on Oct. 15, 2021, against Foothill with a knee injury.
Coleman, then a sophomore, was playing defense in the game prior to what would have been his first Almond Bowl. Two games prior to the injury Coleman tied the Northern Section record for eight rushing TDs in a game on Oct. 1, 2021, against Yuba City.
Coleman was playing defensive back and was guarding a Foothill player as the wide receiver planted his foot and went to catch a ball next to the Panthers’ sideline. Coleman planted his foot as he tried to redirect himself toward the sidelines, but his knee stuck and the Panthers’ star went down in pain. He knew immediately something was wrong, not knowing exactly what at the time, but as he went to the sideline and the swelling immediately began he feared for the worst.
Three days later Coleman got an MRI and was immediately told the results. A third-grade tear of his ACL, a second-grade tear of his MCL and a strained meniscus. Doctors recommended he get into surgery as fast as possible. The swelling went down two weeks later and doctors suggested rehabbing to get his hamstrings stronger before the surgery, so two months later Coleman had surgery on his knee in December.
“Right when I heard it I didn’t know how to process it really, kind of a blur really,” Coleman said about his reaction when he heard the exact extent of his injury and that surgery was needed. “I don’t think it fully hit me until probably a couple months into PT after the surgery how draining it was. How draining the injury itself was, emotionally.”
Coleman battled through a long year of ups and downs, both mentally and physically. He returned Friday night against Red Bluff on a limited play count. The play count, scheduled for 10 plays and six carries, was put together by a combination of Coleman himself, Coleman’s mother, Chico High head coach Jason Alvistur and the Panthers’ entire coaching staff.
Coleman took part in 10 plays and ran eight times for 38 yards, including an 18-yard run when he got a tease of the long run Panther fans have become accustomed to seeing.
On his first play in, the second offensive possession for the Panthers, the Chico High announcers gave the RB a big welcome back and the Panther fans came to their feet chanting Coleman’s name. Coleman said he felt anxious, thinking in his head, “Wow, I’m really back out here.”
“I got flashbacks. I thought I was gone, but I didn’t break that last tackle,” Coleman said of the 18-yard run. “When I was watching film, I was like I need to pick my knees up. I didn’t forget, but I almost forgot about the type of game I play and what made me successful last year. It’s a process getting it back.”
Alvistur said in a text Thursday that he has liked what he’s seen in practice this week and he anticipates Coleman’s workload increasing in Friday’s game against Pleasant Valley, but he could not specify to what extent. After last week’s game against Red Bluff, Coleman said he felt 100% and will be 100% this week against PV, but he was still wearing a large brace on his knee.
Throughout the recovery process, Coleman learned a lot. He learned about his character and who he wanted to be as a person. He had to start from scratch, persevere and learn to build himself back up — a humbling experience for the then-sophomore.
“I was on the sideline cheering my boys on the rest of the season and that’s the character I wanted to be,” Coleman said. “I learned a lot from being on the sidelines. I learned how we respond as a team and how we look at the field as a team because I was never really a sideline player.”
He also learned how strong of a support system he had, pointing to the support of his mother, grandmother, sisters, brothers and coaches. Alvistur said he saw Coleman, who was quiet and introverted before the injury, come out of his shell in the recovery process.
“I don’t know if he would’ve done that if he hadn’t gotten hurt,” Alvistur said. “I think he learned a lot about himself outside of being a football player, like who he was as a person.”
Alvistur and Coleman kept in touch throughout the recovery process, something the coach said he cannot remember doing with any other players. Alvistur said he’s had players get hurt, but Coleman’s injury was severe and it took, “a programmed pattern that’s very difficult.”
Coleman said the most important part of his recovery process was staying on track and not getting lazy with himself. Every leg lift meant something, every side leg lift meant something, all with the plan to get the running back onto the field as quickly as possible.
“The thing about Dion is he’s an incredibly hard worker, he’s incredibly intense and focused about football and his goal was to get back out here and he was going to do whatever it takes,” Alvistur said. “He listened to people, he did what he was told to do which a lot of young men don’t like to do. He knew if he listened and did the right thing he could get back out here and I admire him for it. He’s an extremely high character and high quality person.”
Coleman pointed to two things when asked about the hardest part of the recovery process. He said not tearing himself down about what could’ve been or what he felt should have happened in his first varsity season was the hardest mental part of the journey. The hardest physical part of the journey was in April when he was clear to take his brace off, but one week later differing opinions from the surgeon and physical therapy doctors forced him to put the brace back on.
“That was a tough part for me,” Coleman said. “When you’re building up to something, you’re waiting for something and it happens, and then it gets taken from you again it’s not pleasant at all.”
At the start of the 2022 season, Coleman remained with his team, catching short passes from the quarterbacks to stay involved. As the season progressed he began practicing more heavily. Alvistur and Coleman had a plan to have Coleman play in the Panthers’ fifth game of the season against West Park, but the coaching staff and trainer decided to hold him out with a bye week ahead of league play.
Despite the setback, Coleman understood and accepted it as another step in the recovery process.
“It’s one of those things again that you’re building up to and it gets taken from you,” Coleman said. “I was very excited to play but at that point, it was like I’m already here, we’re this far, what’s another week? What’s another two weeks because we had a bye week after that, so I brushed it off after a couple seconds.”
Coleman made his return last week against Red Bluff, and Friday he will get his first Almond Bowl experience as an active player. Despite the hype with cross-town rivalry, he is constantly reminding himself that it is just another league game and will be his second game active in 364 days.
“Like my coach was telling me we can’t get caught up in the cross-town. Mentally it’s just another game and I know what we gotta do to win,” Coleman said. “It’s more the second game back, but I can tell you I’m excited for it for sure.”
