By Andy Yamashita Seattle Times staff reporter
LAS VEGAS — Jonah Coleman has a smile that’s worth hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars. Literally.
Seated at his podium in the Mandalay Bay convention center, Coleman, Washington’s senior running back, wore a sleek black suit over his wide-shouldered frame, paired with a black bow tie and a white pocket square.
But the Stockton, Calif., native always has a way to make an outfit authentically his own. Coleman, a longtime jewelry enthusiast, wore a thick diamond chain with a large pendant featuring his initials and his number: JC1. A diamond-studded watch shined on his left wrist. Coleman’s most notable new addition, however, quickly became apparent.
A new diamond grill glittered under the ballroom lights every time Coleman patiently answered a question.
“It’s just kind of been my trademark,” he said.
Coleman, a third-team All-Big Ten selection a year ago, spoke late Wednesday afternoon during Big Ten media days in Las Vegas. The 5-foot-9, 228-pound running back is preparing for his second season on Montlake after rushing for 1,000 yards for the first time in his career after two successful campaigns at Arizona.
The senior running back said he’s in a better place physically than he was a year ago. He’s enjoyed a full offseason with a dedicated workout regimen instead of navigating the transfer portal. Coleman said he hopes it will make him more durable. He’s continued to reshape his body, too. Coleman noted he’s down to around 221 pounds despite being listed at 228, and feels more agile and “electric.”
The team also feels closer together, Coleman said. He noted that a year ago, more than half of UW’s eventual starting offensive line wasn’t available to practice before August, something that affected his own chemistry with them.
He’s more confident in the rest of the running backs entering 2025, too. Sophomore Adam Mohammed got another offseason to grow into his body, while redshirt freshman Jordan Washington added more than 20 pounds from his true freshman season and provides a new dimension because of his speed. Coleman said the Huskies ideally want to play between three and four running backs every game, something that wasn’t always possible in 2024.
“It makes me comfortable coming out of the game and being able to trust my teammates a lot more,” Coleman said. “Me and Adam have grown extremely close this year. And Jordan. We’ve grown closer this year. So just being able to have that trust when I come out the game that everything will still be OK, that he’s going to do his job — it was just kind of funky last year.”
More trust in his teammates isn’t the only new thing Coleman is bringing into the new season.
Grills — jewelry worn over the teeth — have been Coleman’s trademark dating back to his time as a high school prospect. He often wears them during games, donned them for Big Ten media days a year ago and even wore a gold pair for his roster headshot as a sophomore at Arizona in 2023. But Coleman revealed Wednesday that his long history with the jewelry began with a lie to his father.
“It became part of me, so it was fun,” he said. “It was cool. It was funny. But I think back to how it all started, I was like, ‘Dang, I disobeyed my dad.’”
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Coleman had wanted a pair of grills ever since he was a child. His older brother always had a pair, but his father, Jamon Coleman, never allowed his youngest son to get a pair.
So when Jonah turned 16, he decided to take matters into his own hands. He’d desperately wanted a pair of gold grills, and spent hours working as a DoorDash driver to save up some money without telling his father. Eventually, Jonah had enough money for half of the total price, enough to put a down payment on the grills and convince the jeweler to start making them.
“My dad didn’t want me to get them,” Jonah said. “But I was a little knucklehead and I wanted them. And if I wanted something, I had to work for it.”
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Running back Jonah Coleman, left, cornerback Ephesians Prysock, center, and quarterback Demond Williams Jr. pose for a photo in front of the Big Ten logo in the lobby of the Mandalay Bay convention... (Courtesy Spencer Klein / UW Athletics)
Jonah continued working for DoorDash in an attempt to earn the rest of the money. However, when the jeweler called to tell him the grills were finished, the future Husky running back was still $300 short.
Left with no options, Jonah finally told his father what he’d done. The running back knew Jamon had saved up some money to buy him new cleats, and so he asked his father to instead use the money to help him finish paying for the grills. At first, Jamon resisted.
“He said, ‘I told you not to get no grills,’” Jonah said. “But I was like, ‘Dad, we already put a payment down.’”
Finally, Jamon relented after Jonah promised to wear the same pair of cleats from the prior season. They quickly became one of Jonah’s most-prized possessions.
“My first pair of gold grills, I loved them,” Jonah said. “I wore them until they fell off my teeth.”
Jonah’s newest pair of grills are from a high-end custom jeweler in Houston called Plug Geo & Co. They’re a replacement for the pair he wore during Big Ten media days in Indianapolis a year ago, which Jonah admitted he lost. He said he might’ve accidentally ran them over with his car after finding the top grill mangled in his garage.
“I was like, ‘If I’m going to get some grills again, they just had to be top tier,'” Jonah said. “I’m not going to lose these.”
Andy Yamashita: ayamashita@seattletimes .com. Seattle Times staff reporter Andy Yamashita covers UW football.
