National Scouting Combine Feature: Kal-El Statham from Combine to College Coach

Kal-El Statham Quality Control Coach – Defense 

What were your initial thoughts on the Combine?

“I believe I went in 2020, right before COVID happened. It was great, it was very professionally run, the TRAZER machine was amazing. I got to work a little bit beforehand with Coach Kibble as well, so we got a little bit more experience on the TRAZER,  that thing was awesome. I would recommend (the Combine) to a lot of other people, because you get a chance to see where you’re at, get lazer tested, you do all of the combine drills, and they’re scouts there.

 

The day before we got there, we had the opportunity to talk to CFL coaches at this hotel we were staying at. You get the experience to learn what to say, what not to say, and how to handle yourself professionally.”

 

What was your transition from playing to coaching like? 

 

“It was 2018 when I got to the University of Charleston. I was able to play linebacker there under Patrick Kirkland and my linebacker coach was Zack Johnson. He was a different guy, he didn’t believe in cursing, he was a Christian, and he loved you first. So a lot of my learning and love of football came from him. He actually gave me a book, Uncommon by Tony Dungy, that I took a lot of pages out of.  I didn’t think of myself as a coach until my senior year at Charleston when they made me a captain. We had a lot of young guys in our group, and they made me the leader of the defense and I was voted unanimously to be the captain. That was the moment that I knew that I have an impact on others and they listen and they respect me… 

 

I went out to my local high school, High Point High School in Beltsville, Maryland. I was the defensive coordinator in my first year, my second year I became the head coach for the varsity team. This will be my third year coaching, and I decided that I wanted to try college coaching. I got the opportunity at Towson under Pete Shinnick and Darian Dulin, the defensive coordinator; they gave me the opportunity to be the defensive quality control coordinator, and I love every day of it.”

 

What are some of the life skills that you’ve gained from coaching?

 

Having attention to detail, I had that as a player as well, wasn’t the fastest, wasn’t the strongest but I could control how smart I was and how much I knew about the game to put me in a better position. 

 

What advice would you give to players pertaining to how to build relationships with coaches? 

 

Be honest, be transparent, and be accountable, have positive energy, positive energy is contagious and people love having people that are positive around them. Shoot your shot, sometimes you gotta shoot your shot, you got to ask, you never know who somebody may know that can get you where you want to be.  

 

What does it mean if a player is coachable?

 

“Being able to not make the same mistake over and over, being able to dissect that it’s not personal. A lot of players get emotion involved, and sometimes you need to take the emotion away from a person. So if a coach is yelling at you, telling you you need to correct your footwork and your drop, it’s not a personal attack, it’s to let you know ‘Hey you’re doing this wrong and I want you to be better’. Sometimes you have to take the emotions away from the message.”




2024 National Scouting Combine

February 18-22 held at Grand Park Events Center in Westifled, IN. Accepting draft eligible nominations now!
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