Coffee played soccer at San Jose State University.
In 1979, he signed as an amateur with the Chicago Sting of the North American Soccer League in order to maintain his Olympic eligibility.
[1] He did not compete when President Carter declared that the U.S. would boycott the Olympics, held in Moscow, after the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan.
Coffee turned professional with the Sting and remained with them until 1981, playing three outdoor and one NASL indoor seasons.
In 1980, he signed with the Philadelphia Fever of the Major Indoor Soccer League[2] before returning to the Sting, now playing in the MISL for the 1982–1983 season.