 He played his last championship game on 5 August 1979 in a 2-14 to 1-13 All-Ireland semi-final defeat by Galway.Coleman was dropped as first-choice goalkeeper in favour of Tim Murphy during the 1979-80 National League, but claimed a third winners' medal in that competition after a nine-point victory over Limerick.He was not included on the Cork panel for the 1980 Munster Championship, a move that effectively ended his inter-county career.