West Virginia corner Michael Coats Jr. played running back in Pop Warner, and he was pretty good at it, too. Everyone around Louisville, Mississippi, knew the little back. He had a bright future in football.

When Coats was in ninth grade, he stopped playing football and sports altogether. His future was uncertain.

“I just didn’t have a drive for it,” Coats said. “I can’t tell you why. I just honestly didn’t have a drive for it.”

Instead of spending the afternoons on the football field, Coats worked 5 p.m. to 1 a.m. at the arcade. After graduating and spending nights selling tokens, Coats had a realization.

“I realized that that wasn’t something I wanted to do with my life,” Coats said.

Coats was on Facebook and saw an advertisement for a tryout with the Eastern Central Community College football team. When his football friends would come home from college, Coats ran 7-on-7 with them and kept up, so he thought maybe he’d give football another shot.

“Every day I went out there for like six, seven months after I got out of work and worked out every day,” Coats said. “Then, when the tryout came, I just made the team.”

Coats said he’d even use the arcade games to help him practice.

Coats spent three years at JUCO and then transferred to Nevada, where he played for two seasons, before switching to West Virginia. Through each stint, Coats didn’t feel like he was behind compared to the rest of the players because he didn’t play high school ball.

“I just felt like, I’m a big believer in God, and it was a journey, and maybe it wasn’t meant for me to play then,” Coats said. “Every day I worked hard, and maybe that time that I worked hard and stepped away, gave me an advantage because I’m still fresh right now, not banged up knees and bruises. Everything happened for a reason.”

In just four games for the Mountaineers, Coats is already a top corner in the Big 12. He doesn’t have crazy pass break-up numbers or tackles because quarterbacks refuse to throw his way. Coats was graded in the 80s, according to Pro Football Focus, which is a high grade, against Kansas. It was one of the best grades by any player in the game. He’s been named to a couple of All-Big 12 defense teams each week by PFF, too.

“I feel comfortable with him out there in man,” DC Zac Alley said. “That’s for sure. I think he’s done a great job, even a heck of a play on the goal line, the one in the last game. He continues to just show up week in and week out. There’s a reason that he was really good prior to coming here, and he felt like he could be a Day 1 impact guy for us. IT has been a good thing.”

From JUCO to a lower FBS like Nevada, to the Big 12, Coats hasn’t felt too much of a difference. On some plays, though, Coats does surprise himself, and it sinks in that he’s at the Big 12 level.

“Yeah, most definitely,” Coats said. “I know the work that I put in, but I’ve been surprised a lot. Sometimes, I make a play, and I’m like, how did I just do that? I’m still surprised by things I do.”

There’ll always be the question, though, what if Coats played in high school? Would he have gotten Power Four offers? Could he be on a better track to the NFL? Would he have gotten injured? Coats doesn’t dwell too much on the past and doesn’t have regrets.

It’s going pretty good so far anyway.

“I do ask myself what it’d be if I did play sports,” Coats said. “But, there’s no regrets. Everything happens for a reason. Maybe if I did play, I wouldn’t be here right now. For me, I started late, I really didn’t have any bad habits, wasn’t injured, and I’m still fresh. Still young. Maybe that was a big reason.”