Iowa State TE Charlie Kolar flipped a coin to decide whether to return to school or enter the NFL draft
Iowa State tight end Charlie Kolar's decision to return to school was swayed by money. And no, that's not a reference to an NFL contract.
Kolar told the Des Moines Register that he chose to come back to Iowa State for his senior season over entering the 2021 NFL draft after he flipped a coin. The decision to let heads or tails decide his near-term football future came from advice that his parents had given him as a child.
“My parents taught me this technique — when you can’t make a decision, flip a coin and you say you’re going to make a decision based on the coin flip,” the All-American tight end said. “The way you feel afterward gives you a pretty good idea of what you actually feel [about a decision].”
So, Kolar flipped a coin after the 2020 season.
“I think it landed for Iowa State,” he recalled, “and I felt good about it.”
Had the coin gone the other way, Kolar could have been selected on the second day of the NFL draft. Kolar likely would have been one of the first tight ends off the draft board after Florida's Kyle Pitts. He was the Cyclones' second-leading receiver in 2020 with 44 catches for 591 yards and led the team with seven touchdown catches.
Last season was Kolar’s second year with seven TDs. He had 51 catches for 697 yards and seven scores in 2019.
His return to school boosts an Iowa State team that looks poised for a rematch with Oklahoma in the Big 12 championship game. The Cyclones will likely enter the season as a preseason top-10 team with Kolar, QB Brock Purdy and RB Breece Hall all returning. Hall rushed for over 1,500 yards and 21 touchdowns in 2020 while Purdy completed two-thirds of his passes. Iowa State finished the season 9-3 after splitting two games with the Sooners and beating Oregon in the Fiesta Bowl in the school's first New Year's Six bowl appearance.
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