Professor's Lesson Makes Lasting Impression

As an all-American quarterback for the junior college national champion squad, it is easy to understand that Dennis Coleman was heavily recruited by Division I football programs across the country. He was a talented player and it was well know around the Western Arizona junior college campus that Coleman had several scholarship offers being waved in front of his face.

However, dollar signs and promises of national recognition did not jade Coleman. He was looking for something more and a special professor at Western Arizona helped him to find it.

One day after a philosophy class in November of 1972, professor John Ahern, a friend and mentor to Coleman, pulled the quarterback aside and asked him to meet with him for a few moments. Seated in Aherns office, the professor took a thick book off his shelf. It was one of those publications that provides rankings and descriptions of universities across the country.

Ahern flipped through the pages of the book and said to Coleman, "I understand one of the schools that is recruiting you is Brown University," according to Coleman.

The professor finds the description of Brown in the book and asks the student if he knows that Brown is the seventh oldest college in the nation. If he knows the strong reputation the school owns and the opportunities that are available at such a prestigious institution.

"He [Ahern] looked me in the eyes and said 'If you want to do and be all of the things you say and think you can do, you should go here,' as he gestured towards Brown on the page," recalls Coleman. "'The sons and daughters of kings and presidents go there and you will walk with the people that will run the country in time to come,' he told me. I was impressed by that and my mother was so happy to think that I would go to an Ivy League school. I still get goose bumps when I think about that."

Coleman was so impressed and intrigued by Aherns words that he skipped the scholarship offers to enter Brown University in the fall of 1973 as member of the class of '75. The transition to the Division I level and the rigorous academic environment was eased by Colemans talents on the field and off.

Brown basketball standout Phil Brown '75 would like to think he also played a part in helping Coleman feel comfortable at the school. When Coleman first visited the Providence campus, Brown was asked to show Coleman the school and talk to him about being an athlete there.

"I knew he came from a place (Western Arizona) where football was a huge part of the school," said Brown. "I helped him to realize the perspective of academics and athletics that exists at Brown. I told him Brown is not traditionally a football school, but there is so much more you can get out of a school like Brown. You wont be playing football forever," Brown advised.

The transfer's teammate, Peter Chelovich '75, was impressed by how effortless the change was for Coleman. "Coming from Arizona and junior college to Brown, which is very different, I was amazed how he just didn't miss a step," Chelovich marveled. "He fit in immediately and I think that was because he had well defined goals."

Growing up as one of eight children in the Coleman house in Darby, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia, you better have a plan in mind because if you spend too much time pondering, you can be quickly overlooked. Coleman was number five of eight, entering the world five years after number four was born. Religion and sports were staples of the household, and there was never a shortage of siblings to play a little one-on-one basketball or toss the football around.

In high school, Coleman kept busy with football, basketball and track and field in the spring. His small, slender frame was not typical of a football player, but the quarterback relied on his quickness and instincts to move the football down the field.

"He was probably the skinniest player on the team, besides me," said Chelovich with a laugh. "But he had a knack for coming up with the right play. He could turn an average play into a big gain."

Coleman's leadership abilities and positive attitude also contributed to the success of the team. Teammates remember that a smile was always glued across Coleman's face, and he was never intimidated. He had a quiet confidence that spilled over to the rest of the team.

Perhaps the only time Coleman appeared to be nervous was when the Bears traveled to the University of Pennsylvania for a match up during his first season in a Brown uniform. It was only Colemans second game, and he was anxious about playing before more than 20,000 people, including his family and friends from his hometown.

What made Coleman a unique football player is that he also played a wingback position for the Bears. The team was fortunate to have two strong quarterbacks, so when Coleman was not filling that role, he was in the game as a wingback.

For Coleman the best thing that happened to him while he was at the Brown campus occurred shortly after his arrival to Providence. During preseason training for his first year as a member of the Bears squad, Coleman took what seemed to be an uneventful trip to the cafeteria. As he walked into the line he caught sight of this young lady seated at a table with a group of fellow freshmen, who were at Brown early for orientation. However, Coleman says he did not see single person in the room except for this one girl.

"My heart skipped a beat and I couldn't catch my breath," remembers Coleman. "I couldnt help but to ask her if I could come by and see her sometime. So I did."

Coleman's instincts were right on target off the field as well. This young lady, Miriam, later became his wife and the mother of their three children. According to Coleman, his wife still blushes every time he tells the story of their first encounter.

After graduating from Brown, Coleman continued to pursue his long-time dream of becoming a lawyer. He entered Georgetown Law School in the fall of 1975 and returned to Rhode Island with a law degree three years later. His deep-seeded love of sports led Coleman to the sports and entertainment side of law. After several years of serving as a agent to a number of athletes, Coleman joined the law firm of Ropes and Gray, which is based in Boston. When Coleman first started with the firm, it did not service entertainment and sport clients. However, he had a hand in creating a new division to service these industries.

"The law firm was willing to create a new discipline, but it is institutional and association based which is compatible with the culture of our firm," explained Coleman, a partner in the 130-year-old firm.

Some of Coleman's clients include the National Basketball Retired Players Association, the National Association of Basketball Coaches, the Boston Celtics Legends Foundation and several college head basketball and football coaches. He is entrenched in the Rhode Island and Brown University communities as the director of the Brown Hall of Fame, a member of the Executive Board of the United Way of Southeastern New England, a corporator of the Providence Public Library, and a member of the Rhode Island Black Lawyers Association. His recent contact with Brown makes him question the schools efforts at attracting a diverse student body, and he doesnt necessarily state this in reference to race alone.

"The diversity at Brown was one of the things that attracted me to the school," recalls Coleman. "There was definitely a movement at the time to be more inclusive. We have lost some steps though. As I look at teams, I know the pool of middle and upper class African-Americans has grown. I think hence, the universities have gotten away from going into inner cities as much as they used to."

"I am not saying the academic standards should be bent, but the same students they accepted from the cities before, are still there now. Financial restraints keep the schools from making the same effort," said Coleman.

However, the lawyer is optimistic. He thinks that schools are coming to this realization and are looking for other ways to bring these student-athletes to the Ivy campuses. That same optimism that helped Dennis Coleman excel in football and life surfaces again.

-- Erica Hurtt

***Please note, this story was written for a previous Ivy League Black History Month celebration. It is reproduced here for archival purposes and has not been updated.***