A number of studies have shown that development areas of weak deformation brittle series of tectonically deformed coal are often the favorable areas for coalbed methane development, and the distribution area of the mylonitic coal of ductile deformation is a danger zone of mine gas outburst. Therefore, faced with solving the key scientific issues and technical problems of the coal bed methane exploration and development and gas outburst prediction and evaluation, more and more attention has been paid to the research on tectonically deformed coal. This paper first systematically elaborated the main research progress on the concept and classification of tectonically deformed coals, their deformation characteristics, and the pore fissure structure and chemical structure. Then, it pointed out that there was a lack of research on the ductile deformation mechanism of coal, and this key scientific problem needs further research in the future. It seemed that the structural and geochemical process of chemical elements migration and accumulation during coal deformation was a new field which is worth exploring. Through refining stress sensitive elements, their distribution and evolution patterns in different stress-strain environments and different types of tectonically deformed coals might be revealed, and then they could become a predictive index which indicates the significance of distribution of tectonically deformed coals and gas outburst prediction. It was thought that geophysical response characteristics and research of detection theory and interpretation method of different types of tectonically deformed coal and gas enrichment area should be an important development direction in the future.