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he also was part of the 1978 team that was the first in school history to be ranked No. 1, on Nov. 13, 1978. But he admits he is a little disappointed in his playing career at Penn State, which included a medical redshirt in 1981 after he suffered a bone fracture above his right ankle during the third game of the season against Temple. Coles was a highly rated 195-pound, 5-foot-111���2 All-State running back from the Pittsburgh suburb of Penn Hills, whose teams had a 34-1-1 record. This was more than a decade before Pennsylvania had a championship playoff system, but many scholastic observers believed that winning three consecutive Class AAA titles in the tough Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League from 1976-78 (Penn Hills shared the 1977 title with Butler) was like winning a state championship. ���My [Penn State] career was somewhat disappointing, coming in as a highlytouted player,��� Coles said. ���The expectations were high, being that it got off on the right foot. I was one of the few freshmen who was not redshirted and actually got to play some in the games, which was a great experience having those guys who were there at the time like Fusina, Bruce and Matt.��� Quarterback Chuck Fusina and defensive tackles Bruce Clark and Matt Millen were three of the five first-team All-Americans ��� offensive tackle Keith Dorney and safety Pete Harris were the others ��� on that ill-fated 1978 team that lost the national championship to Alabama, 14-7, in the Sugar Bowl. Coles was the third-team tailback behind sophomore Booker Moore and junior Mike Guman, but he shared prime kickoff return duties with fullback Matt Suhey and also played occasionally on the kickoff and punt teams. In the nine games he played, Coles returned five kickoffs for 98 yards (a 19.6 average), returned a punt for 10 yards, rushed for 183 yards on 43 carries, including a 5-yard touchdown against Texas Christian, and caught six passes for 43 yards. But his time on the field was not enough to earn him a letter. Not getting a letter didn���t bother him as much as the demoralizing loss to the Crimson Tide. ���That was a big disappointment, probably my first real failure in athletics,��� Coles recalled, with the regret still obvious in the tone of his voice. ���In high school I really hadn���t had to experience the ���agony of defeat,��� as they say. And losing the national championship game was just devastating. That still is my biggest disappointment outside of breaking my leg [in 1981].��� After spring drills in 1979, Coles remained as the backup to Moore and Guman, but during fall practice, a freshman named Curt Warner made such an impression that Coles was moved to defensive back. He started the first seven games but was shifted back to offense after Moore was suspended for a DUI arrest. After that switch, Coles carried the ball just nine times for 31 yards, caught a pass for 11 yards and returned three kickoffs for 49 yards. ���Coming back my second year and being moved over to defense really didn���t bother me much because my major thing is, I wanted to play and I felt I was good enough to play,��� Coles said. ���It was kinda disappointing once they moved me over and then moved me back [to offense]. I didn���t feel anything had happened to warrant me being moved back. I thought things were going pretty well for me and the defense was playing well, but I can���t really remember all the circumstances.��� Although the 1979 team finished a disappointing 7-4 in the regular season, it was invited to the Liberty Bowl, and Coles made the play of his career to help Penn State defeat Tulane, 9-6, on a 20-yard Herb Menhardt field goal on the last play of the game. With 50 seconds left and Penn State facing thirdand-2 at the 50-yard line, quarterback Frank Rocco pitched out to Coles, now the fourth-string tailback. Instead of running, Coles stopped and just as he was about to be tackled, he threw the ball to wide-open fullback Tom Donovan, who ran to the Tulane 11-yard line. Warner and Suhey ran the ball to the 3, and after a timeout, Menhardt���s chip-shot kick won the game. ���That was one of my biggest thrills,��� Coles said, ���particularly after moving back to offense and going into more of a secondary role as far as running back. Having that moment made things a little easier to swallow.��� The next season Warner was the starting tailback and Coles was his backup, but he also was getting time at fullback behind Moore, who was now the starter there, and Coles��� roommate, Mike Meade. This would be his most productive season. He played in all 12 games and finished third on the team in rushing with 410 yards and one touchdown on 75 carries, caught three passes for 24 yards, completed his only pass to Kenny Jackson for 25 yards on an option play and returned one kickoff for 8 yards. In the ninth game of the season he had a career day in a 21-13 victory over North Carolina State at Beaver Stadium, leading the team in rushing with 151 yards on 12 carries and being named Player of the Game. Coles wasn���t bothered playing behind Warner in 1980 because, he said, ���I was really rotating between tailback and fullback, still seeing action, so I wasn���t disappointed. It was never about having to be the No. 1 guy. I was playing and I was happy. And then I broke my foot in spring ball.��� The stress fracture in his right foot that kept Coles out most of spring practice was still not completely healed when preseason practice started, and as Coles was beginning to recover, Paterno moved him to fullback to back up Meade. Everything went smoothly at first. In the 1981 season opener, a 52-0 victory over Cincinnati at Beaver Stadium, Coles scored a touchdown and picked up 48 yards on seven attempts, and the next week he ran for 22 yard yards and a touchdown on 17 attempts in the Lions��� 30-24 victory at Nebraska. But after rushing five times for 40 yards and catching one pass for 12 yards against Temple, Coles was carried off the field on a stretcher late in the third quarter. His season was over. ���I was making a sweep to the right, in front of our bench, and was making a cut upfield, and just as I was cutting, one of their linebackers dove and wrenched my ankle and I had a fracture in my right ankle,��� Coles remembered. Coles laughed when told that the

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