A native of Cabarrus County, North Carolina, Coggins was introduced to wrestling in the eighth grade by his Health and Physical Education teacher. His family moved to Greensboro, where he would become a two-time NCHSAA state wrestling champion in 1966 and 1967 at 197 lbs. for Grimsley High School, and he was also a part of Grimsley's 1967 State Championship team. Coggins was awarded a scholarship to Appalachian State University for football and wrestling, where he was a three-year starter in wrestling for Coach Steve Gabriel.

Graduating from Appalachian State in 1972, Coggins started the wrestling program at Scotland High School, coaching there for six seasons, and one season at Jamestown Middle in Greensboro. In 1979, Coggins initiated the program at the newly built Southwest Guilford High School, where he would remain for 32 seasons until stepping down as the head coach in 2011. In 39 seasons of coaching, Coggins' record as a head coach was 316-201-2, with 12 conference championships, a district dual team championship (1992), and an NCHSAA 1A/2A regional tournament championship (1994). His teams placed in the top ten at the state tournament ten times. Five of his wrestlers won state championships, with one attaining All-American status. Coggins also coached football, serving as Southwest's defensive coordinator for 24 seasons.

Coggins instructed at the Appalachian State University summer wrestling camps for over 25 years. He also served on the NCHSAA Wrestling Advisory Committee and was the associate state tournament director from 1990-94. In 2010, he was a recipient of the NCHSAA "Eight Who Make a Difference Award." Guilford County Schools named the Southwest Guilford gym the "James E. Coggins Gym" in his honor in 2011, the same year he was inducted into the North Carolina Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.