Edward B. Coleman graduated from Bluffton in 1986. He was a member of the baseball and football teams and participated in the student exchange program to Mexico. Coleman was a four-year varsity football starter and is among the all-time leading receivers at Bluffton. He was named all-district and all-American.

In 1987, Coleman signed with the Detroit Lions as a free agent before a chronic knee injury prematurely ended his football career.

He has since spent time as a correctional program specialist and juvenile parole officer and worked for the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.