Coleman Proctor and Logan Medlin first joined forces as friends. But after doing full-tilt team roping battle together for five years, they’ll ride into the next chapter of their lives and cowboy careers as brothers. These guys were contenders. But because the bottom line on roping for a living is business, this year’s 30th- and 33rd-place finishes for Proctor and Medlin, respectively, called for a change.
“For four years, Logan and I had such a fast run that we could make consistently,” Coleman said. “Our times were a little slower this year, and that led to trying to speed things up, which led to our consistency dropping. We had the same great partnership, horses and attitude, but it fell flat on its face this year.
“We kind of lost confidence in how fast our run was. In team roping, it’s about following your recipe for success. I got away from what Speedy (Williams) always told me, and that’s good riding and good angles. What hindered my performance was I started chasing rabbits. I tell people you can’t do that all the time when I give lessons, but I didn’t follow my own advice this year. Logan and I had a long, great run, and we’re still the best of friends. I think our daughters took this change we’re making the hardest.”
There are now five little girls between them. Coleman and Stephanie have Stella, Caymbree and Sterling; and Logan and Breely have Kamryn and Karsyn.
“Bottom line, we didn’t rope good enough to be there,” Medlin said of 2025. “I’m not making any excuses, I don’t want any sympathy and I’m excited for the guys who made it. The teams who rope the best all year are the ones that get to rope there.
“Throughout the whole summer, we just knew we were going to turn it around at any time. But we never did. It wasn’t for lack of effort on both sides of the partnership, but it just didn’t happen. I’ve never taken the NFR for granted. It doesn’t make missing it any easier, but God’s got a plan.”
How in the world could a team that was one steer away from three gold buckles last December be coming to this crossroad? First, let me explain that. Proctor and Logan caught fire at the 2024 NFR, pulling checks from six of the first nine rounds, including the Round 7 and 9 victory laps. They rode into Round 10 with strong shots at both the world team roping titles and the all-around crown for Coleman.
But because Coleman had won good money with Junior Nogueira at the Pendleton Round-Up that fall (while Medlin and Kaleb Driggers sat that one out), the earnings on Team Proctor and Medlin were not the same. The way it went, had Coleman and Logan stopped the clock on their last steer, they’d have held their spot in the average and Coleman would have been the world all-round champ instead of finishing second and just $675.74 behind Shad Mayfield.
In the world team roping championship race, “Logan and I needed to be 4 flat or 4.1 for me to win the heading,” Coleman explained. “But when Andrew Ward (and Kollin VonAhn) went 3.5, we had to be two places ahead of TWade and Wesley (who roped after them) for Logan to win it. When we rode in the box, we had to be 3.4 for us both to win the world.”
It’d be pretty tough to fault anyone for taking the odds and trading a 4.1 for two gold buckles for himself. But leaving his main man behind was not on Coleman’s bingo card and never crossed his mind as an option.
“It’s not part of any fiber of my being to not be a team player,” he said. “We ride together, we win together, we lose together. That’s who I am, and I’m proud of that. I wouldn’t change a thing about trying to be 3.4, except for splitting the horns. We’d just won the round the night before, and had it going on. That was absolutely possible for us, and to me, that was the only play.”
Fast forward to now, and this tough decision they’ve made. Together.
“At the end of the day, if your team doesn’t make the National Finals, it’s natural to look to make a change,” Coleman said. “Like Kollin (VonAhn) said when he and (Nick) Sartain split (after winning the world together in 2009), the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, and expecting a different result.
“Logan and I have had a lot of ups and downs, and we’ve helped each other weather the downs. Logan’s a thousand percent in every time. But we rodeoed all year, and Logan barely made Houston. As a team, that’s well below our standards, and it’s not acceptable. Neither one of us wanted to pull the trigger, but it was just time. We’ve always been up front and honest with each other, and I love him and his family dearly. We also both need to make a living for our families.”
“Our decision to do something different was very mutual and very cordial,” Logan added. “We stayed on the same page and made a good team for a long time. We got to win big events, like Calgary and the Governor’s Cup. We talked about it, and both just kind of had that pit in our stomach that it was time. That’s not to say we won’t ever try it again sometime if things line up. For now, we’re ending it on a high note as great friends.”
They’ll both miss spending three days a week in November running 100 steers a day at a friend’s indoor, filming every run and breaking it all down in anticipation of 10 big-money days in Vegas. They found fun working hard at the grind, and called it “the factory.”
The November 20-22 Prairie Circuit Finals Rodeo in Mulvane, Kansas will be the last hurrah for Proctor and Medlin for now. Coleman hasn’t yet committed to his next heeler.
“I’ve been fielding some phone calls, and there are some great guys out there,” he said. “I did not see this year going this way, but we’ll both be back.”
In the meantime, Coleman will return to Vegas for the Purina Pregame Show—”the hottest pregame show on the steps of the Thomas & Mack,” on which he’s Luke Branquinho’s co-host.
“Vegas is every contestant’s favorite place to be in December,” Proctor said. “And it’s a big deal financially when you don’t make the Finals. I think the most heartbreaking part of this whole thing for me this year was having to explain to my daughters that we aren’t entered this year.”
Medlin’s plan for 2026 is to heel for 2021 NFR header Coy Rahlmann.
“Coy ropes good and has good horses, and he lives pretty close, so we can practice,” Logan said. “Coy’s a dad now, too, and our goals line up. It just seems like it’s a good fit, so that’s the plan.
“Missing the Finals this year is a big deal, because this is how I provide for my family. But my wife is very good at making me look at the bigger picture. I’ve never tried to make rodeo bigger than it is. There will come a time for everyone when you’re not going to be there. It took me a long time to make it the first time, and getting there once doesn’t make it any easier to make next time. I know I’ll never take the NFR for granted.”
