Before he even stepped foot on West Virginia's campus, Avon Coburne had overcome hefty odds. He'd survived a troubled childhood to become a star running back at Holy Cross High School in Delran, N.J., only to suffer a potentially career-ending ACL injury. All things considered, what Coburne went on to accomplish at WVU in a storied career spanning from 1999 to 2002 was nothing less than astounding, as he became the most prolific running back in school history. EerSports.com's Jeremy Curtis recently caught up with Coburne, who now stars for the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League.

JC: How is everything? How is Canada?

AC: It’s good, man. I can’t complain at all.

JC: How is the CFL different from the NFL or even major Division I college football like you played at West Virginia?

AC: It’s definitely different -- the athletes are. It’s not NFL, but they are definitely better than a college team. It’s just a different game. It’s smaller, faster guys. You’ll have a linebacker playing d-end. You’ll have a couple linebackers playing d-end in the league, but they’re really special. It’s not saying the guys up here aren’t special. It’s a smaller league and bigger field, so you got to be a little faster.

JC: I bet you don’t have much trouble in that department.

AC: [laughing] I do all right.

JC: Do you still keep up with West Virginia football?

AC: Of course. I try to watch as many as I can. Really upset about that bowl game though. That hurt me for like the whole day. If you’re a West Virginia guy, I’m sure it ruined your day, too. You didn’t want to do nothing else after that. I know I didn’t. We were winning. We were beating them up so bad and then we lost. It hurt me.

JC: Yes, it was a bit disheartening. They also got smacked around in basketball that day, too.

AC:  Yeah, that was a bad day for us. That was the first loss -- to Purdue, right?

JC: Yep. Then of course, they turned around and beat Ohio State, who had beaten Purdue, so go figure.

AC: That’s how it is.

JC: Do you still talk to any of your former teammates or coaches from WVU?

AC: I just came back from Michigan because I just got my braces done up there, so I didn’t see any coaches. But I’m kind of cool with [Mike] Barwis and all his training staff.

I’m still cool with Angel Estrada, Grant Wiley. Pretty much everybody I graduated with, we still keep in contact. Facebook has been a blessing for us.

JC: Did you get a chance to come back to Morgantown this past fall and catch a game?

AC: I usually get back for at least one game. Pat White’s last game, it snowed when I was home and I couldn’t get up there because the roads were too bad. So the last two years, I didn’t get up. Next year, I’m definitely going to try.

JC: You knew coach Stewart a little bit during your last couple years up here because I know he was on Nehlen’s staff and then Rodriguez retained him. What do you remember the most about coach Stewart?

AC: Coach Stew was a motivator. He always made me want to play for him, the way he acts. I think he was the quarterbacks coach and special teams coach. I’m the starting tailback and I’m begging him to get on the special teams. I wanted to play for him. I got a couple plays, but that was it, pretty much.

JC: Do you think he’s got them headed in the right direction?

AC: Yeah, man, I definitely do. It’s tough coming from Rod who had so much success early. I think we lost the first year and then in the second year, we had a great year.

They’re not doing terrible, but they’re not doing great -- not how they were before when Rod was there. I feel like he’s headed in the right direction, honestly. Is he going to get there? I hope so. I’m hoping we start doing a lot better this year than we did last year. It was hard to watch those games we lost.

That one game, we got cheated -- that Cincinnati game. They should’ve never gave him that touchdown. If they didn’t give him that touchdown, it’s a totally different game.

JC: That was controversial, to say the least.

AC: That’s the touchdown that they got and they won by three. And then he should’ve kicked the field goal. I mean, if he gets the first down, there’s nothing said. If you don’t get it, then everybody’s like, ‘eh’. That’s the profession. That’s the profession he chose.

JC: They would’ve won the Big East if that game would’ve went their way, but anyways, Noel is kind of a similar build as you. Do you seen any similarities between the two of you? You’re both 5-8, a little bit undersized, but really speedy and explosive and that sort of a thing…

AC: He’s a lot faster than I am. That’s the one thing where I think he’s got a better chance of getting drafted. I could’ve stayed in the league doing other things, but I wanted to play and I was immature at the time. He’s got a real opportunity because he’s ridiculously fast and quick. I was more quick than fast, but he’s quick and fast. He’s definitely exciting to watch.

JC: You had the opportunity to play for both coach Nehlen and coach Rod. How would you say they’re similar and how would you say they’re different, aside from the traditional power I-formation compared to the spread offense? From your perspective as a player…

AC: They’re definitely different because Rod was more hands on. He installed the offense, so he was more hands on than coach Nehlen was. When I got there, coach Nehlen was letting everybody else do everything. He would just go in there and give you his wisdom we he felt the need. [paraphrasing Nehlen] ‘Avon, you might want to think about doing this’ where as Rod, whereas Rod is like, ‘This is how it needs to be done.’

I can’t even say they are similar in any way. All I really got from Rod was he was such a good offensive coordinator. It was totally different because of the fact that he was ‘Ra, Ra’ in your face and Nehlen, he wasn’t like that at all.

They’re similar in winning games, but other than that, they’re just totally different.

JC: Backtracking to the 2002 season, you finished with more than 1,700 rush yards. It seemed like it was then that the spread started getting some notoriety and attention. When did you first see how that system could be so explosive and dynamic?

AC: I think when we played Wisconsin. We were losing. It was basically my fault. I was trying to do my own thing and not stick to what they were telling me to do. In the second half, we just totally became a different team. I’m doing what he’s asking me to do and we just start running the ball on em. Supposedly you can’t run on a Big Ten team and we just started doing whatever we want.

Then we played Miami (Fla.) and we lost that game, but it was competitive. We felt like if they played in their cover two -- which is they’ll man up and keep two safeties deep -- we’ll be able to continue to run the ball how we did. I had 175 yards in that game and we didn’t lose a game ever since then until the bowl game.

JC: With the evolution of the offense and with guys like yourself, Rasheed Marshall, Quincy Wilson and then Pat White and Steve Slaton, were you not too surprised to see the BCS bowls and all the recent success?

AC: No. I’ll be honest with you. I wasn’t the fastest guy. I probably could’ve had 2,000 yards, if I was a lot faster. I broke a lot of 40-yard runs and 50-yard runs and got caught. Whereas Steve, he wasn’t as solid as I was, but he was a lot faster. So when he would hit 40, he was going 60 and 70 and 80, which is the difference in field goals and touchdowns.

Then when Pat came there, he tore everything wide open because it was like, who did they want to get the ball to.

For me, we had three guys. It was me, Quincy and Rasheed.

JC: What do you remember the most from the 2002 team and your senior year?

AC: We felt like we couldn’t be stopped at times. The one thing I do remember about all of them is they had so much heart. That made the bigger difference in our team.

JC: You guys had some big wins that year. You beat Va. Tech in Blacksburg. Was it that game or even another game that you’ll remember the most?

AC: The biggest game was when I broke the [all-time rushing] record. It was our last home game actually, against Boston College. We won the game. The biggest thing was after the game, my teammates dumped the water on me and fans picked me up and were calling my name -- it was just awesome. That was a game I’ll never forget. It’s just like yesterday, when it happened. That was one of the best moments, in my career.

JC: Going back a little further, what are your memories of the 2000 Music City Bowl win over Ole Miss in coach Nehlen’s final game?

AC: I actually thought about that the other day. That game was crazy. We dominated the game from the start to the third quarter. And then we saw a future Hall of Famer [Eli Manning] come on the field as a true freshman and just take over. It was special because it was Nehlen’s last game. He hadn’t had a [bowl] win in I think it was 16 years. To win that game, the game plan was perfect. We knew what they were going to do. It felt like because we were a Big East team, they felt they could play us man-to-man and we just destroyed them.

JC: There have of course been a ton of good running backs in the Big East and especially at West Virginia. It’s basically a thousand yard rusher after a thousand yard rusher. You’ve probably got this question a lot, but what does it mean to you to have the all-time conference and school rushing records?

AC: That’s something that I can always brag about. It’s definitely special to have it. There’s a lot of guys that left early. I wish I had to opportunity to do so, but I stayed. The best interest for me was to stay in school and I got a degree. To head that class of all the backs that have been there, that’s a statement in itself.

JC: Devine needs 1,700 some rush yards to break your record. The question then becomes do you think he has what it takes to break the record and would you want him to do that, or would you rather have the bragging rights for now?

AC: I definitely would love to keep that record, but they’re made to be broken. He’s a guy that’s capable of doing it. I’d be happy for him if he did. Coming from where he came from, to do that would be awesome, I think.

JC: Do you think there is a place in the NFL for Devine? Can he be a Darren Sproles kind of running back?

AC: Definitely. He’s more of a slasher, speed back. Like you said, he’s more of a Darren Sproles. But you never know. I never expected Darrren Sproles to go there and do what he’s doing. He might go there and become the next Barry Sanders. It’s kind of unlikely, but anything is possible. To say he can’t do something, you won’t be winning that battle.

If he knows he’s not being a back, he can just go there and be a special teams guy. It’s a career. If he can think about it like that, he’ll be fine.

JC: So what’s next up for you? What keeps you busy during the offseason months?

AC: For right now, I’m doing school visits trying to motivate kids telling them my story and see if I can change a couple kids lives. I’m only up here for another month and then me and the wife [Rebecca], we’re actually planning on buying a house in Florida.

JC: Briefly, what’s one of your motivational speeches like? What do you say to kids to get them hooked and interested?

AC: I’ve been blessed. I come from a broken home pretty much. My mother, she was on drugs; father was on drugs. If you tell a kid that, they’re like, ‘Wow, how did you do that?’

Some of them are going through it now, too.

I tore my ACL my senior year in high school. It made me think this wasn’t going to happen. West Virginia took a chance on me and five years later, I’m the all-time leading rusher in the school.

JC: Considering the ACL injury, was WVU your only offer?

AC: I had Pitt, Maryland, Minnesota and West Virginia.

When I did it [the ACL injury] I felt it was over. I felt like I had nothing else to live for.

I had a lot of guys that went to West Virginia. There were a couple of guys from my high school that went to West Virginia. I was going to go there regardless. My coach [Tom Madiera], he coached there. It was pretty much a done deal for me.

JC: So it’s back up to Montreal for next season?

AC: Yeah, I’ll be back up there in May for starting camp.