In short, this Cedar Rapids native has already done a lot of heavy lifting. He's earned the momentum. Winning in Cedar Falls last week, with all sorts of geographic and family connections, made for some special moments.
It was the best kind of homecoming for Coker, who grew up watching UNI games.
"It was a great experience – it was the first time we've gotten a win over that team since I've been here, especially when you feel like you should have gotten a few from them over the years," Coker said. "It's great beating them back in the 3-1-9."
That's the area code down in those parts, of course. It was a day when the Coyotes definitely dialed things up a notch.
"I feel great about the steps we've been taking as a defense over the last 16 months with the new defensive coaches coming in," Coker said. "Since the 2017 season when we had the playoff run, we've had a pretty young team. We've made young-team mistakes. We've had some depth and injury issues like every team does, but this year we've been able to stay relatively healthy. We trust each other and we trust the process."
It's a bit of trivia that won't get a lot of airplay but Coker's grandparents were both chemistry professors at USD. Coming to Vermillion for holidays was part of his family's routine so he was very familiar with the community when he became a Coyote. His grandmother still watches the games on television. He's hoping to put on another good show against Illinois State at the DakotaDome this Saturday. It represents a huge game within the context of the season that is trending upward.
"Like Coach Nielson said after we won over UNI: 'It's a big win but all it really does is make the next game bigger,'" Coker said. "In this conference you're basically playing a ranked team every week."
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