Coleman grew up in Kempsey on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, where he played rugby for the Kempsey Cannonballs team, before moving south to play in the Sydney club rugby competition. His younger brother Scott Coleman is also a professional rugby coach, appointed to Italian club Benevento in 2013.
Rugby career
While attending Southern Cross University in the late 1990s Coleman played for the University Gold Rats alongside Justin Harrison. Coleman played as a fly-half in Sydney's club rugby competition from 1995 to 2000 for Eastern Suburbs, Newcastle Wildfires, and Northern Suburbs. He was a rugby development officer in Newcastle. Coleman combined playing with coaching in the early part of his career. While playing for Northern Suburbs, he was appointed as head coach of the NSW Waratahs Academy in 1998, and then as a skills coach to the Waratahs for the 2000 Super 12 season. In 2001 he left Australia to take up contract stints as a player-coach with Italian club Benevento and the Calgary Saints and Calgary Mavericks in Canada.
Coaching
Coleman returned to Australia to coach in the Shute Shield as head coach of the Penrith Emus for the 2005 season. He then returned to Northern Suburbs as head coach for 2006 and 2007. Coleman was also assistant coach to the Central Coast Rays in the Australian Rugby Championship in 2007. He was appointed to professional Italian club L'Aquila for the 2007–08 season. guiding them to a promotion play-off for the Serie A Division. He joined the Brumbies as head coach of the Brumbies Academy for the 2009 season. Brumbies head coach Andy Friend nominated Coleman as the Brumbies attack coach for the 2011 Super Rugby season, but the appointment was vetoed by the administration. He left for Japan to coach Toyota Industries Shuttles, where he guided the team to gain promotion to the Top League for the 2013–14 season. On returning to Australia again, Coleman was coaching director of Eastern Suburbs from 2014 to 2016. He was appointed head coach of NSW Country Eagles in 2014, and head coach of Shute Shield club Warringah in 2017.
