Jets' pick Coples driven by mother

Jets' pick Coples driven by mother

Ben Liebenberg/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Quinton Coples is all smiles after being selected by the Jets in the first round.

The vision was hatched in a cramped car, when Quinton Coples was a mere sixth-grader.

Coples and his mom, Gail, were headed back to their hometown of Kinston, N.C. A few hours earlier, they had helped Coples older sister Aurriell move into a college dorm room. Now, Gail drove home. And Coples pondered.

His mother had already done so much. After divorcing her husband, she had worked two, sometimes three, jobs to help Aurriell get to college. She had been working since age 16, driving a school bus full of school children when she was barely an adult herself.

And Coples couldnt take it any more. So the sixth-grader made a vow on the trip home.

Mama, he would say. Youre not working all these jobs to put ME through school.

Gail almost laughed it off.

Why do you say that? she would respond. Id do it for you too.

But the boy insisted that she wouldnt. And Gail says Quinton Coples has repeatedly reiterated that statement ever since that day.

Thats been his dream, Gail Coples says now. That his mama wouldnt have to do any hard work.

That dream helped Quinton Coples develop the work ethic that many in the NFL dont believe he has. When the 6-6, 284-pound University of North Carolina defensive lineman strode across the Radio City Music Hall stage on Thursday after being selected by the Jets with the 16th pick of the NFL draft, he was greeted by boos from fans.

Analysts immediately questioned his intensity and passion, pointing to a statistical decline in 2011 (7.5 sacks, down from 10 sacks the previous season). Some wondered whether the soft-spoken 21-year-old was merely a bigger version of historic Jets bust Vernon Gholston.

But none of those people knew what Coples had learned from his 44-year-old mother. For nearly two decades, he watched his single mother do everything from drive buses to clean houses in order to support her two children. And that hardworking attitude as well as her strong Christian faith rubbed off on Quinton.
She was one that just wanted to make sure her son succeeded in everything, says Wells Gulledge, Coples basketball coach at Kinston High. She had her finger and had her handprint all over him.

Football was his passion, says close family friend Pat Graham. But watching Gail, that pushed him even more so.

Few things came easily to Gail Coples. She gave birth to her daughter Aurriell when she was just starting high school, at age 14. Just eight years later, as she was finishing college, Gail had Quinton. Gail married Quintons father Timothy Koonce, but the two were divorced by 1994.

Koonce and Coples speak occasionally, but Gail raised her two children alone. A devout Christian, she made sure they went to church every Sunday, smiling when Coples played the drums and served as an usher.

She says she taught them honesty, responsibility and hard work. Then, she exemplified those traits. She got a truckers license while still in high school, and with her mother, Sandra Johnson, babysitting Aurriell, Gail would drive school buses for extra income. Shortly after divorcing Koonce, she added another job, driving trailer-trucks while her mother again watched the children.

Gail says she gave up truck and bus driving only when she got a job at Kinston High as a special needs teacher, a position she still holds today.

We used to fuss with her so much (about driving trucks), Graham says. But Gail, shed do anything for those kids. She drove trucks to make it.

* * *

By the time Quinton reached high school, he had the physical tools to follow through on his promise to his mother. In his first open gym as a freshman at Kinston, a 6-4 Coples dunked and shattered the backboard. Two years later, he was anchoring the basketball team and the football team.

Hes been a man amongst boys for a long time, says Gulledge.

At Kinston, Coples began to harness all that talent. Yes, he had moments when he lacked intensity, Gulledge says, but once the coach removed Coples from a basketball practice, the burly youngster would return angry, then outrace all his teammates during speed runs.

Coples maturation process would continue amidst controversy at Chapel Hill. He totaled eight sacks over his first two seasons, teaming with Marvin Austin (now a Giants DT) and Robert Quinn (now with the Rams) to lead a wrecking crew of pass-rushers who dubbed themselves D-Line Showtime.

It was a group that expected to contend for the national title in 2010, until it was discovered that several players were receiving improper benefits from sports agents. Austin, Quinn and several other players wound up serving season-long suspensions, leaving Coples, who was cleared of any wrongdoing, to anchor D-Line Showtime alone.

A longtime defensive end, Coples was forced to learn a new position, replacing Austin at defensive tackle. And he had to do it in what Austin called a real touchy environment. Despite that, Coples still recorded 10 sacks, a performance that Austin described as resilient.

Things grew even worse last season. Veteran Tar Heels coach Butch Davis was fired, and the NCAA followed an exhaustive investigation by slapping UNC with a litany of sanctions.

Coples was investigated before the season, too, when he was linked to Austins draft party. Shortly after the 2011 NFL draft, photos of Coples with Austin and Quinn at a bar in Washington, D.C., had surfaced. Because the two linemen had prior ties to sports agents, the NCAA decided to take a closer look at Coples. It wasnt until late June that he was cleared.

At no time was there ever any allegation or intimation of a violation of NCAA by-laws, his attorney, Robert Orr, said in a statement at the time.

Orr referred to it as simply the NCAA gathering information relevant to its responsibilities, but Gail still wasnt happy. Her son had been in Virginia Beach at the time, she said, but the usually accountable Coples hadnt told her he was going to the party, a lapse in judgment.

I told him he should have let me know, she says. And you know what? He said, Mom, youre right.

It was the last off-field issue that Coples would face. On the field, the new coaching staff was challenging Coples, moving him around on the defensive line and forcing him to reinvent himself yet again.

New defensive line coach Joe Robinson wanted Coples to focus on stopping the run, so he retooled the linemans footwork while moving him back to defensive end. He taught Coples new defensive principles. A part of Robinson expected the potential top draft pick to argue, but Coples did not complain.

To Robinson, the notion that Coples coasted through a frustrating 2011 couldnt be more flawed. The coach saw a complete team player, and a surprising source of leadership.

Some guys might not want to make those changes, but everything we asked him to do, he did, Robinson says. He made some real improvement that really didnt show up statistically.

Coples made other adjustments as well. The defender who Gulledge once said was a lead-by-example player was suddenly vocal in practices and meetings, talking like a linebacker, according to Robinson.

In what had been a challenging year for everyone, Coples had stolen another move from moms playbook, somehow persevering through a tough time.

My memories are, both of us, Quinton and I, starting out in a very difficult situation, says Robinson. And by the time its all over, I have a tremendous amount of respect for him.

It wasnt easy. And it wasnt always fun. But I think hes a guy that responded well.

* * *

There is a celebration and a handshake with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell on draft night, a string of TV interviews and that chorus of boos.

But before all that, Coples sits backstage in the green room with his mother and sister. And, seconds after learning that the Jets have chosen him, he turns to the woman who helped carry him this far.

He listens as she tells him hes worked hard and kept the faith, stays silent as she compliments him for maintaining his focus.

And then, it is his turn to talk.

Thank you, Mama, Coples says. I love you.