Former Michigan State football star Don Coleman dies

http://www.freep.com/story/sports/college/michigan-state/spartans/2017/01/31/don-coleman-michigan-state-football/97300762/

"Former Michigan State All-American offensive lineman Don Coleman, who helped the Spartans to the 1951 National Championship, died Monday, Jan. 30. He was 88.
A three-year letterwinner (1949-51) under Clarence “Biggie” Munn, Coleman helped guide MSU to a 9-0 record in 1951, winning the Spartans' first national championship on the gridiron. Coleman was MSU’s first unanimous All-American as a senior in 1951 as picked by the Associated Press, United Press, Collier’s, Look, The Sporting News, New York News, Football News, Newspaper Enterprise Association, All-American Board, International News Service, Chicago Tribune Players and Central Press. During Coleman's three seasons on varsity, he helped the Spartans to a 23-4 record, including 15 of the school-record 28 straight victories."
....

"Coleman became the first Spartan player ever to have his jersey retired (No. 78) and was called by Munn “the finest lineman ever to play for Michigan State.” He was chosen to the National Football Foundation College Hall of Fame in 1975 and was a member of MSU’s Centennial Super Squad (Pre-Big Ten) as chosen by the Lansing State Journal in August of 1996. He was the first player named to Notre Dame's All-Opponent Team three straight years."

R.I.P.

Put the 78 on a jersey patch this season.

Floyd Robertson wrote:R.I.P.

Put the 78 on a jersey patch this season.

Sad that death has brought me to read up on this Spartan, but wow what a gift to the university and the world this man has been.   Here's a nice piece from 10 years ago for anyone who was in the same boat as me. Don lost two brothers while growing up in Flint and his junior season was cut short because of conflicts with his job as a busboy. At 175lbs he was a monster on the offensive line.  A lot of other great stuff in just a small article in the link below

http://www.msuspartans.com/genrel/021007aaa.html

RIP - A great Spartan.

An idea of how good he was.....

Graham Couch ‏@Graham_Couch 1h1 hour ago
One of the greats all-time. Had him at No. 5 in my top 50 MSU football countdown a couple summers ago.