Glen Coffee made a memorable first impression on 49ers linebacker Patrick Willis. On Oct. 15, 2005, Willis tried tackling Coffee in a game between Ole Miss and Alabama.
“I remember thinking, ’This guy runs too hard to be a freshman,”’ Willis recalled Wednesday.

The 49ers hope Coffee can make a similar introduction to the St. Louis Rams on Sunday when he makes his first NFL start at Candlestick Park.
The hard-charging rookie will fill in for Frank Gore, who will be sidelined at least two games with an ankle injury.
Coffee is 6-0, 209 pounds with a blunt-force running style. The 49ers said Wednesday that they trust the rookie so much that they will plug him into Gore’s spot and leave their game plan untouched.
“We are not going to alter it one bit,” coach Mike Singletary said.
There are also no plans to promote running back Kory Sheets from the practice squad. Singletary said that Sheets, an undrafted rookie, still has too much learning to do, especially in terms of pass protection.
In other words, this is Coffee’s show.
Quarterback Shaun Hill will remain in a supporting role.
“Absolutely,” Singletary said. “There will be no, ’Shaun you have to take it and put it on you.’ No. We are going to run our offense.”
Coffee, the third-round pick from Alabama, shared the NFL rushing lead during the preseason. Along the way, he impressed coaches with his rugged running style and ability to choose the correct lane.
Coffee’s fans include the man he replaces this weekend. “He runs strong and he finds the holes,” Gore said. “Glen is going to be a great player.”
Since the dazzling preseason performance, however, Coffee has found real NFL defenses to be a tough slog. When Gore came out after one play against the Vikings, the rookie managed only 2.2 yards on his 25 carries.
Coffee vowed to fare better this week, especially now that he knows what to expect. It helps that he will be facing a Rams defense that ranks 27th in the NFL against the rush (148.0 yards per game).
“All ballcarriers are supposed to look at themselves as starters, regardless of where they are on the depth chart,” Coffee said. “There isn’t supposed to be a drop off.”
Gore’s injury is a blow to a 49ers offense built around the running game. Offensive coordinator Jimmy Raye memorably called Gore the “bell cow of this operation.”
Now, they’ll ring in Coffee. There are no plans to expand the passing game even though Hill is 9-4 as a starter, including 6-0 at Candlestick Park.
“We are trying to balance it as much as we can,” Singletary said of the run-pass ratio. “As Shaun continues to develop, as he continues to get his arm around the offense, the trust factor outside is going to open (things) up more.”
For now, the trust is in the rookie running back. Coffee was drafted for just such an occasion. The 49ers worried about Gore’s ability to withstand a full season of pounding and looked for a chance to upgrade his understudy.
In the five previous games Gore has missed with an injury, the 49ers are 1-4. His stand-ins, including DeShaun Foster and Michael Robinson, averaged 60.7 yards in those games.
Enter Coffee, who had 1,383 yards for the Crimson Tide last season to tie Shaun Alexander for the second-best single-season total in school history. Coffee averaged 5.9 yards per carry and scored 10 touchdowns.
“Glen Coffee is not Frank Gore, but at the same time, we have every bit of confidence in Glen Coffee to go out and do a very good job and be very effective,” Singletary said. “Our offensive line just has to respond by picking up some of the slack and trying to create some holes for him. That is our mindset right now.”