Shane Cokes born in Dayton, Ohio, is a defense line player for the Colorado Buffs. From his freshman year in 2020 at Dartmouth College till his time in Colorado in the 2024 season, he has come a very long way. With 41 total tackles in the 2023 season, he outshined and became the leader for the team on the defensive line. He has even won the Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week that too for multiple times during his Sophomore Year with Ivy League during his Sophomore year and ahead, which is a great deal for a freshman like himself!

Looking at his abilities, football seems to be the dinner table topic. It is a fair guess. Let us get along and meet the people behind his rapidly growing career – the supportive family of Shane Cokes.

The Coke family is like a pillar of support

Shane Cokes is one of the four siblings, raised by father Shawn Cokes and mother Janeen Cokes. Shawn Cokes “lettered” for the Cincinnati Bearcats in 1989, which means he earned a varsity letter as a member of the University of Cincinnati’s football team back in 1989 for this great performance. Now, if we match it up with Shane, it is clear where the athletic support comes from. When we think about the “L” on the jersey to designate him as a leader on the team, we can also match the father-son leadership qualities. While there is no information publicly available on what Janeen does, but still her influence and support can still be seen.

During an interview with BiggDoggChico, Shawn and Janeen Cokes talked about a lot of things, both personal and impersonal, about Shane Coke. When asked about their commitment to Colorado, Janeen came up and humorously mentioned, “Nick was at our house for 6 hours!…when Nick came, Nick just sealed the deal.” Shows us how it is important to win the parents too and not just the student-athletes. It is almost like giving your child to someone to take care of. Well, Nick Williams, who was a defensive coordinator for the Buffs when Shane committed to the team, did seal the deal by bagging up Shane by earning the trust of Shawn and Janeen.

Janeen also talked about how Shane hated school, she mentioned laughing,

“I told Shane I was gonna tell this so Shane is just a naturally smart kid and he’s very auditory so he’s an auditory learner but Shane actually never liked school he actually hated school…but looking back on it I think that and I being a young parent though I think that he was probably bored uh with it because he was just he’s just smart and he’s the most well-rounded kid out of all of our kids” Ending it on a note appreciating his talented son as any proud mother would!

All eyes on Shane this fall season

Shane played in all 12 games in 2023, starting in nine. After starting the initial eight games, he didn’t start again until the season’s last game versus Utah. He ended the 2023 season with 29 tackles and with that figure; he ranked second among defensive linemen on the team. These 29 tackles included 12 of his solo tackles and one pass breakup, which is a great deal. One of his greatest performances in the 2023 season happened during his finale against Utah, in which he recorded nine tackles out of which three were unassisted.

Shane Cokes is going to prove that he is an asset for Colorado for this fall season with players like Terrance Lang, defense end; Janaz Jordan, defense tackle; Justin Jackson, defense end and others in the defensive line. The team is aiming for victories and a solid standing. Let’s see where it all goes for Colorado this year, with lots of strategies put into work!