Northwestern doesn't land a lot of players with an offer list like Cullen Coleman's. The linebacker who committed to the Wildcats on July 6 collected offers from a who's-who of college football power programs.

Alabama was on the list. Ohio State. Michigan. Notre Dame. Penn State. Stanford. Coleman turned them all down to pick Northwestern. In the process he enabled the Wildcats to get a little bit of revenge on the programs that have tormented them the most on the recruiting trail over the years.

Coleman not only passed on those schools, but only one of them, Stanford, even made his Top 5. A lot of players talk the talk about the importance of academics in their decision process. Coleman walked the walk, too.