So instead of doing a whole intro piece on explaining who is Deandre Coleman, I'll just point you to Bears with Fangs who wrote up a nice article on one of our latest football verbal commitments:

Cal received a commitment from defensive tackle Deandre Coleman last night. Coleman is a 4-star recruit according to Rivals.com, and is considered the 8th best defensive tackle prospect in the country, and the top prospect overall out of Washington.

The Seattle native will bring a sizable physical presence to the defensive line, listed at 6’4, 295 lbs. He will also be another Bears recruit to play in the US Army All-American game next month.

Coleman had given actually given Cal a soft verbal commit during the summer, before committing to Washington in August. The buzzkill that was Washington’s season was one of the factors that Coleman reconsidered however, and had also been recruited by schools such as LSU and Washington.

I thought I might take a look at the highlight reels of Deandre Coleman from Rivals.com.  Here's his Rivals.co profile with links to his highlight videos.  Note: to see his full profile and his highlights you'll need a premium subscription.  I can't replicate the videos without violating copyright law, so instead I'll just give my amateur opinion on his lone two and short highlight reels.

(You can see a fuzzy YouTube highlight reel here.  Coleman is #75 on the purple team).

Thoughts from the one Rivals.com highlight reel with him at the offensive line:

(1) Great explosiveness and speed.

(2) Good upper arm strength.

(3) Plays too high and got away with it in highschool because he was so dominant.  Needs to play much lower and bend at the knees not the waist.

(4) Only a moderate foot drive, seems to power through defenders more with his arms.

Thoughts from highlights with him at the defensive line:

(1) Good pursuit speed.

(2) Quick to plug gaps.

(3) Strong and overpowering

Conclusion:

Honestly, I can't really say much more from his limited highlight reels.  The guy is so much bigger, heavier, and stronger than all the competition he's faced, that he doesn't need to be that skilled to be good.  He merely powers his way past and through offensive linemen to get the tackle. 

Furthermore, because he was so much bigger, and stronger than his competition, he probably never really had to truly excel in the minute skills which make great offensive and defensive linemen.  I feel like Coleman might have never been truly challenged in highschool and pushed by his competition.  Thus, he might have  some competition-shock when he arrives at Cal and is facing players who are just as big and strong as him and also more skilled than he is. 

In short, Deandre Coleman looks to be an absolute strong, quick, and massive beast.  I'm not really sure he's going to arrive at Cal and be the most skilled freshman defensive lineman but he certainly has the physical tools to be a dominant defensive tackle - and definitely the size and physical tools to be Cal's future NT (nose tackle) in the 3-4 defense.

For comparison, here are SBN's Washington blog, UW Dawg Pound's, thoughts on Coleman (thanks to Avinash from Bears Necessity for the heads up):

Garfield's Deandre Coleman commited [sic] to California today after probably being dropped by Washington after it became evident he wasn't going to qualify and his senior film was absolutely terrible

Coleman has some potential but has absolutely no chance of qualifying so his recruitment has been more about a pecking order to get in line for him after he does a couple of year at a JC.

Coleman entered the summer as the top recruit in Washington but played like a soft tub of goo for a weak Garfield program in the Kingco League last season. Washington has too many tubs of goo on the roster ight [sic] now so his loss is really no big deal.

Scouts say there are certain plays where he steps up with a quick first step so coaches think he has potential. The lack of work he has put in concerning academics and overall conditioning makes him more of a project than a slam dunk.

My thoughts in response:

(1) UW has higher academic standards than Cal?  I always thought it went something like Stanfurd, Ucla, Cal, then the rest of the Pac-10. 

(2) Terrible senior film?  I don't think so.  Impressive?  Yes.  OMG GREATEST RECRUIT EVER?  No.  But still worth a scholarship, in my opinion.

(3) Husky fans seem to be rationalizing excuses for losing him.  I don't think they were really dissing him when he was committed to them, right?  Whatever.  If I were a coach and Coleman was a Husky leftover, I'd take the leftovers.