COLUMBIA | Standing on the Missouri sideline on Saturday night, Tigers linebacker Sean Weatherspoon saw it coming.</p><p>Southeast Missouri State cornerback Eddie Calvin dropped his head and dived, trying to cut MU tight end Chase Coffman off at the knees.</p><p>Coffman elevated. Left leg leading, right leg trailing. Sailed right over Calvin&#8217;s head and continued down Faurot Field.</p><p>Weatherspoon cackled, even if he could commiserate with Calvin.</p><p>&#8220;It really makes you look bad,&#8221; Weatherspoon said. &#8220;When you miss a tackle, it makes you upset. But when you get hurdled, it&#8217;s pretty much just pitiful.</p><p>&#8220;You look silly on the Jumbotron. On the sideline, everybody&#8217;s looking at you a little differently.&#8221;</p><p>Calvin need not feel pitiful, or silly, or ashamed. Coffman&#8217;s signature move has carried him over &#8212; and most often cleanly over &#8212; many a defender in the four years Coffman has been redefining the role of tight end in the Big 12 Conference.</p><p>He did it the first time as a true freshman against Oklahoma State. He did it against Texas Tech and Colorado last season. He did it in August drills to teammate Trey Hobson. He did it against Illinois in the season-opener.</p><p>But for drop-jawed, world-record clearance, there was the leap over Calvin.</p><p>&#8220;The best in a game,&#8221; Coffman said, &#8220;was probably that.&#8221;</p><p>Paul Coffman, Chase&#8217;s father and himself a tight end at Kansas State and in the NFL, vaulted a defender or two in his day.</p><p>&#8220;My dad likes it,&#8221; Chase Coffman said. &#8220;My mom, I don&#8217;t know whether she likes it too much. She always holds her breath.&#8221;</p><p>Understandable, considering the way the move, uh, exposes a certain part of Coffman&#8217;s body to possible blunt-force trauma.</p><p>MU quarterback Chase Daniel laughs about that. &#8220;Nothing has happened yet to that certain spot,&#8221; Daniel said.</p><p>Said Coffman: &#8220;Not to where it hurts. Nobody&#8217;s gotten me good.&#8221;</p><p>Coffman has considered the risk of injury, say to a knee that might be struck by a defender&#8217;s helmet. There is also the lack of control about being completely spread out in the air and being knocked around with the head or a shoulder serving as the landing gear rather than Coffman&#8217;s feet.</p><p>Nevertheless, Coffman notes there is danger on the ground because more defenders &#8212; faced with bringing down a 6-foot-6, 245-pound raging bull &#8212; try to do it by going for his knees.</p><p>Look no further than New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady last Sunday against the Chiefs to see what might happen. Brady&#8217;s left leg was planted as he was hit, and Brady is now out for the season.</p><p>Coffman sees the high road as a viable choice between: &#8220;Trying to jump over somebody and not get hit at all or have them dive at my knees anyway.&#8221;</p><p>Missouri coach Gary Pinkel, himself a tight end at Kent State, has not warned Coffman against using the move.</p><p>&#8220;You get hit in the air, it&#8217;s probably less of a blow than when you get hit with your feet on the ground,&#8221; Pinkel said.</p><p>Pinkel is as impressed when Coffman goes airborne as anybody else.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s pretty amazing to watch,&#8221; Pinkel said. &#8220;I was never a good enough athlete to hurdle.</p><p>&#8220;He just got very frustrated. People are trying to cut him all the time. He just decided he&#8217;ll just jump over them.&#8221;</p><p>The special thing about the move is that you never know when it is coming. Not even Coffman knows.</p><p>&#8220;You kind of see them duck their head and start to go down,&#8221; Coffman said. &#8220;But when you start to decide before they&#8217;re going to do it, that&#8217;s when it goes wrong.&#8221;