Former Auburn Wide Receiver Coaches High School Team To First Win In Over 100 Games

The leading receiver for the 2013 Auburn Tigers coached an Alabama high school to a historic feat over the weekend.

Former Auburn standout receiver Sammie Coates took Columbia High School to its first win this past weekend. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Former Auburn Tiger wide receiver Sammie Coates led the Columbia High School Eagles to their first win in over a decade, breaking the school’s 101-game losing streak and longest losing skid in the country.

The high school in Huntsville, Alabama, blew out the Greensboro Raiders 41-14 despite going down 14-0 in the first quarter of the home season opener for the Eagles. It had been 11 years since students, staff, or players saw a win, so they celebrated accordingly by storming the field.

Columbia coach Sammie Coates following his team’s 41-14 win over Greensboro to snap a 101-game losing streak: pic.twitter.com/1s269vOqjW

— Thomas Ashworth (@_ThomasAshworth) August 23, 2026

The Tiger receiver was hired by Columbia High School in 2025. When he first took over the program, Coates and Columbia played through the entire with only 28 players on the roster. A year later, he was able to put together a full roster of 60 teenagers that got to experience the legendary win.

“Thank you to the administration, the school supporting me, having my back the whole time, and the players fighting every single day throughout the spring, throughout the summer,” Coates said after the game. “Everything they have done they deserve every moment of this… I’m just happy for the kids, it’s nothing about me. It’s about those kids who worked their tail off.”

“We built a program. It’s coming, we aren’t there yet, but it’s coming.”

Coate’s head coach at Auburn Gus Malzahn gave credit to the star head coach in the next steps of his football career.

Bigtime proud of you @sammiecoates11 https://t.co/dDVP44755r

— Coach Gus Malzahn (@CoachGusMalzahn) August 23, 2026

Coates was a four-star wide receiver recruit in the Class of 2011, where he would later sign with Auburn. After a quiet freshman season, Coates blew up for the Tigers, leading them in receiving yards in 2013 and 2014. His sophomore year was his best, finishing with 902 yards and seven touchdowns while coming up short in the 2014 BCS National Championship against Florida State.

The former wide out was a second-team All-SEC selection following his 2013 season and was named to preseason watchlists for the Biletnikoff Award and the Maxwell Award.

Coates was then drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the third round of the 2015 NFL Draft. Coates went on to only play four years in the NFL, where he also played for the Cleveland Browns and Houston Texans. The former Tiger then played in the CFL and XFL before transitioning to coaching in 2020. 

The Eagles, with Coates at the helm, look to continue their winning ways and improve to 2-0 after a historic victory to open up the 2026 season.

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