Many opportunities and paths often arise from being a student-athlete and playing sports at the collegiate level.

For the University of South Alabama's Riley Cole, the pathway football has provided has been one with both ups and downs, but also set the senior on a direction to the next chapter of his life.

Cole grew up playing soccer and baseball at a young age. But it wasn't until around the midpoint of his childhood that he began to play the sport that would ultimately lead him down his current path.

"I had to beg my parents to let me play football," Cole said. "They finally let me play in fourth grade, but I had to run hills and do pushups and sit ups every night if I wanted to play so that I could get stronger."

Cole didn't immediately star in the sport, but began to refine his training habits and development thanks in part to a birthday present request. He had put in the work individually throughout the years, but felt that he needed something else to push him over the edge.

"I wasn't that good of a player in middle school and began to get better in high school," Cole said. "We were always going to camps because I wanted to get better. My present for my 12th birthday was being able to go to a training facility so that they could teach me how to run and work out. I just wanted someone to teach me how to do those things. My parents said that I had put years of work in to get to that point, so they would help me out with the rest."

The facility was Sports Medicine and Fitness in Vestavia Hills, Alabama. He and his parents would drive an hour three days a week to teach him how to run and lift weights in order to improve his performance.

Cole also knew the impact that playing at the collegiate level could provide.

"I wouldn't have been able to go to college without it," Cole said of what football has provided. "Growing up, I was never told that football was my only shot to go to college, but it was what I understood. My parents had put everything into me participating in sports and whichever one gets you to college first is how you're going to be able to go to college. That's just how it was understood. If I didn't have sports or football, I wouldn't be in the position that I'm in. I'd probably still be back home working a normal 9-5 job."

Cole lettered in three sports at Oneonta High School, but football ultimately provided the path for him. He started to get recruited heavily in football during his sophomore year, which led him to decide to focus on it. Cole received his first football offer at the end of his junior year, which was from South. After the first offer came in, others seemed to flow in with Wake Forest coming next and then Alabama. Cole also received interest from Auburn, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Tennessee, Florida State, Kentucky, Louisville and Indiana as well.

Rated as a three-star recruit by all four national recruiting services, Cole was a first-team all-state selection as a junior, and chose the Crimson Tide prior to the start of his senior season where he remained committed until a coaching staff change in Tuscaloosa. Following then-defensive coordinator Kirby Smart's departure to take over the reins at Georgia, Cole decided to decommit. Members of the former Jaguar coaching staff — head coach Joey Jones and defensive coordinator Kane Wommack — quickly reached out to him days before signing day, and after a visit, Cole felt that Mobile was the destination for him.

The size and feel of South's campus appealed to Cole, who grew up in a town with a population just over 6,600.

"South Alabama was special to me because it's kind of a smaller campus and I came from a small town," Cole stated. "That was a big thing that I was drawn to when I was being recruited. It just felt like home."

Arriving in Mobile, Cole looked forward to the challenge of earning playing time and had plans of making an immediate impact on the field.

"Coming in, I wasn't guaranteed anything and Coach Wommack made it clear that I was going to have to work for everything, which I appreciated," Cole stated. "That's all I wanted. I didn't want to be handed anything. I planned on contributing a lot and I did early on as I rotated with the ones. I was second string behind Roman Buchanon. It was good to be behind such a good senior leader like him. I feel that helped me develop a lot."

His first game in a Jaguar uniform was the program's historic 21-20 win over Mississippi State in Starkville where he was credited with a pair of assisted tackles in his collegiate debut. He then began moving up the depth chart and his expectations grew.

"I had a lot of expectations for that season. I started playing well, getting used to the speed of the game and then in the third game, I blew my left ACL [anterior cruciate ligament] on kickoff coverage on the series I was supposed to go in at the start of the game," Cole noted. "That was heartbreaking, especially as a freshman who had all the expectations for myself that I did. That was the first big injury where I needed surgery."

Following the season, Cole briefly considered walking away from the game. "Mentally, all the injuries were rough for me. I didn't want to play football anymore, but I had good people around me that actually talked me into staying. Everything turned out for the best. It was definitely hard coming back from that, but it helped me learn how to push myself through the pain so that I could get to where I needed to be."

One motivating point played a part in Cole deciding not to hang up his cleats.

"I would say getting my degree," Cole said when asked why he decided to not give up on the game. "I'm the first person in my immediate family to finish college. I decided that I was going to stick things out and finish my degree. That's what had been instilled in me by my parents; they weren't just going to let me walk away."

Cole rehabbed the knee injury in just five months and prepared to pick right back up the following season as he started the first eight games at linebacker, but his year would again be derailed by injury as he tore his posterior cruciate ligament [PCL] and popliteus tendon in the same knee; however, the setback didn't end his season as he chose to stick it out.

"I just kept playing through the injury because I was so scared to have another surgery," Cole said. "I was going to do whatever it took to stay on the field. They taped my knee up and put a brace on top of that, just so I could run without it buckling or giving out. It was rough, but it helped me learn how to push through things."

While he continued to play, Cole wasn't the same player prior to suffering the injury.

The following season saw not only a coaching change, but a position change for Cole as well as he was moved from his inside linebacker position to the "Bandit" position, which is along the lines of a defensive end.

"It was so different and a big adjustment for me," he said of the change.

In the fourth quarter of the 2018 season opener against Louisiana Tech, Cole was coming off the edge trying to get off a block when he planted and felt a pop in his knee. The medical staff examined him and discovered that he had torn his meniscus, while also suffering a hairline fracture along his femur. He was told that he could play on the injury, although it was recommended that he probably shouldn't. To no surprise to anyone who knows him, Cole chose to tempt fate and play through the injury.

After missing the Oklahoma State game, Cole returned to the field for South's third game of the season against Memphis. But against the Tigers during the second quarter, Cole heard another pop; he had chipped off the rest of his femur bone, ending his season and setting up another surgery.

"That surgery was tough, but at the same time it was a bit easier because after going through the others, I knew how to handle it and push through the recovery and rehab," Cole said. "When I came back, I knew I had to take care of my body better. I knew what made my body feel good and what I had to do. I started squatting heavy three days a week during the season, because I knew that's what my body reacted to best. After all the injuries, I've been able to become stronger, both mentally and physically."

He stayed at the 'Bandit' position when he returned and began getting comfortable with it. Cole had a solid season where he played all 12 games for the Jaguars, the first time he had been able to do so since arriving on campus.

The season wouldn't come without injury though. On the fourth play of the season-finale against Arkansas State, Cole was cut and injured his right knee, which had been healthy to that point. He came to the sideline and told the medical staff to 'put a brace on it,' and finished the game while helping lead South to a 34-30 win over the Red Wolves after making six total stops.

The 6-foot-3, 235-pound linebacker earned honorable mention all-league honors from the coaches and media at the conclusion of the year after being credited with 59 total stops, including nine behind the line of scrimmage, which was the second-highest total on the team. He also led all players with a career-best 11 tackles at Troy.

However, the coaches and Cole met during the offseason and decided that a move back to the middle of the defense would be best.

"The middle is where I'm most comfortable playing, but it was still a transition for me after being basically a defensive end the past two years," Cole said of the change back to the inside. "It took a little bit of adjusting, but I definitely enjoy it now. I feel like I'm able to control things better, which I like. I like being in control as much I'm able to no matter what the situation is."

"Cole's a very versatile guy for us," South Alabama head coach Steve Campbell said of what Cole brings at both linebacker positions. "He's able to rush the passer and come off the edge. He has a nose for the ball. We moved him to the inside so that he was able to make plays both ways for us. He also plays a lot of special teams for us which adds to his versatility."

"He handled it very well, and you can tell that every day that he comes out on the field," Jaguar defensive coordinator Greg Stewart said of how Cole handled the move back to the inside. "I feel the inside is his natural position. When he first moved from 'Bandit' to the inside, he tried to play inside linebacker like 'Bandit', which is different. He's realized his ability to get downhill and make a play. He's still getting better at doing that. There isn't a ceiling for him."

Heading into his final season with the Jaguars, Cole received numerous preseason accolades: he was selected second-team all-Sun Belt, named to the Reese's Senior Bowl Top 250 List, and also named second-team all-Sun Belt Conference by Phil Steele Publications and third-team all-league by Athlon earlier this summer.

Thus far he's lived up to the billing as the team leader tackles for loss (5.5) and sacks (2), while posting 86 total tackles, a pair of forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries. He has four games with 10-plus tackles, which are most on the team, and has led the Jaguars in tackles on three occasions.

Twice during the 2020 campaign Cole has set and tied career highs in tackles with 15 against Texas State and Coastal Carolina, while recording 10 solo tackles in South Alabama's 30-20 win over the Bobcats.

As Cole and his teammates enter the regular-season finale against in-state rival Troy in the annual "Battle for the Belt," the senior ranks in the top 10 in a pair of career categories at USA — ninth in total (208) and seventh in solo (116) tackles.

With the collegiate portion of his football career ending, he also comes to a point where the sport might lead him down one of two different pathways.

As with any high-level athlete, the goal of playing professionally is one that intrigues Cole, but it's not necessarily one that will define him.

"I want to play in the NFL, but I know that it's such a hard goal to be able to achieve," Cole said.

Both Campbell and Stewart believe that the senior's versatility will aide him in trying to earn a roster spot at the next level.

"At the next level teams have condensed rosters, and guys that are able to do a lot of different things carry more value," Campbell said. "He's a guy that will carry value on special teams, on third down as a pass rusher, while he's also able to play both the inside and outside linebacker positions on normal down-and-distance situations. Those types of players are hard to find."

"I think having that versatility will help him," Stewart noted. "Usually at that level, the guys rushing out on the edge are a lot longer that Riley is. I think it will help him if he's with a team that has a scheme where they send linebackers. I feel he's more of an inside linebacker and that he'll be a really good one. What will help him at that level from the inside position will be his ability to rush the passer while being in the box."

"I'm going to do everything I can to make it because the opportunity's there and you can't pass that up," Cole said. "I'm not one of those guys, though, where it's the end-all be-all goal; I always have a backup plan."

And that backup plan for Cole, who already holds his undergraduate degree in exercise science and is working on his master's, is one in which he gives back to the next generation of up-and-comers in the sport and their development.

"I do eventually want to own my own gym and sport-performance facility," Cole state. "I want to give back and teach kids the correct way to run, lift weights properly and how to be an athlete. Younger kids who don't have good guidance don't see that they can be so much better with the right training. I want to be a good mentor, especially since I've been there and had to overcome things. With all the injuries I've suffered, I've had to learn how to come back and build muscle back fast."

For Cole, the sport has given and taken so much, but he wouldn't be where he is today without it. Whether football leads to a professional career or to his goal of eventually owning a sports-performance center, only time will tell where the path will lead. But whatever the future holds, the battle-tested Cole will be aptly prepared both mentally and physically to meet yet another challenge.

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/WeAreSouth_JAGS. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

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