Three-time Super Bowl champion, former UAPB coach Coleman dies at 68

Monte Coleman, the hard-nosed linebacker whose career bridged Washington’s championship decades and Arkansas-Pine Bluff’s HBCU football resurgence, died Sunday at 68. The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff and the Washington Commanders announced his death, and no cause was disclosed.

Coleman spent his entire 16-season NFL career with Washington, becoming one of the franchise’s defining defensive players. He appeared in 215 regular-season games with 62 starts and finished with 999 solo tackles, second in team history, and 49.5 sacks, sixth on the franchise list. He played on Washington’s Super Bowl-winning teams after the 1982, 1987 and 1991 seasons, and he also appeared in another Super Bowl after the 1983 season. In 2015, he was inducted into the Redskins/Commanders Ring of Fame.

Born Nov. 4, 1957, in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, Coleman took an unusual path to stardom. He was a walk-on at Central Arkansas, where he switched from safety to linebacker and set a then-school record with 22 interceptions by the time he graduated. Washington drafted him in the 11th round in 1979, and he grew into a steady presence in the middle of the defense, later earning recognition as one of the top coverage linebackers of his era. John Madden named him to the All-Madden Team in 1993.

Washington owner Josh Harris called Coleman “one of the greatest players in Washington history” and said his “durability and leadership set the standard” for the Burgundy & Gold. The organization also described him as a key part of its glory years, a player whose production and consistency helped define one of the franchise’s most successful stretches.

Coleman’s impact continued long after his playing days ended. He joined Arkansas-Pine Bluff as a linebackers coach and became head coach after the 2007 season, then led the Golden Lions for a decade from 2008 through 2017. In 2012, UAPB won the Southwestern Athletic Conference championship under Coleman and also claimed a Boxtorow HBCU Division I coaches’ national championship. UAPB athletic director Chris Robinson said Coleman “represented everything we strive for at UAPB — excellence, integrity and a relentless commitment to developing our student-athletes,” adding that his legacy was also measured in the lives he changed.