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Warhawks’ Coats center of attention

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Garth Coats

Garth Coats doesn’t mind being spoiled.

In fact, the Evansville High School graduate and UW-Whitewater starting center said that’s what he’s going to miss most about his football playing days.

In an eight-year span, Coats’ teams have won 97 games and lost 12. He has won eight straight conference titles between high school and college, and he added an NCAA Division III national title in 2007.

Whitewater (14-0) will shoot for a second national title in Saturday’s Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl at Salem, Va. It’s the fifth straight year that the Warhawks will play Mount Union College (Ohio) in the national title game.

Coats, one of the Warhawks’ co-captains, knows Saturday’s game against the defending champion Purple Raiders is likely to be the last time he puts on shoulder pads and a helmet.

“I’m trying to keep things in perspective because we’ve got a game to play,” Coats said of the prospect of playing his last competitive football game. “But I learned a long time ago not to take anything for granted. I’m sure as time goes on, I’ll be able to look back and reflect on what a great experience football has been for me.”

Like most four-year football players at a Division III school, Coats had to work his way up the depth chart before getting his chance. The 2006 Evansville High graduate came to Whitewater as a 6-foot-1, 247-pounder who needed to find the weight room before anything else.

Coats became a weight room junkie and is now listed at 6-2, 275 pounds. He is the centerpiece for an offensive line that has helped the Warhawks average the third-most points per game in Division III (42.8) and the third-highest yards per game (491.2).

Coats was an All-WIAC first-team selection this season after being honorable mention a year ago, and was also named to the D3football.com Western Region second team last week. He vividly remembers his first start a year ago in the season opener against St. Xavier, and he calls that game pivotal in his rapid development.

“It was kind of like being thrown to the wolves, but that’s what I needed,” Coats said of his first start. “I was a little apprehensive because of everything that was going on, but I knew that I had worked as hard as I possibly could to get to that point.”

As the center, Coats is in charge of calling out both run and pass protection at the line of scrimmage.

Coats has tasted defeat only four times in his collegiate career, but two of those were to Mount Union, which also is 14-0 this season.

No team has been able to curtail Whitewater’s high-powered offense this season. But no team the Warhawks have faced is on par defensively with the Purple Raiders, either.

“We’ve talked all week about the fact that if we don’t beat ourselves and make silly mistakes, we’re going to move the football,” Coats said. “If we continue to focus on what we’ve been doing all season, and our playmakers continue to make plays, we’re going to put points on the board.

“And getting off to a quick start is really important. Nothing would be better than to have a nice long scoring drive to start the game. That would really set the tone.”

It might also go a long way toward Whitewater winning its second national championship in three years.

And to the victor go the spoils. No one understands that better than Garth Coats.