December has been a memorable month for Coffee Trojans ATH Anthony Paulk. In the last couple of weeks, he’s been a part of Coffee High’s first-ever state football championship, graduated from high school, and signed a scholarship to continue his football career at Charleston Southern University.
Earlier in the season, Paulk committed to the Buccaneers. Wednesday morning at the Coffee High School Performing Arts Center, he signed a letter of intent to play at CSU. The Buccaneers want Paulk to come to school as an early enrollee. A 4.0 student, Paulk has satisfied his academic requirements for graduation at Coffee High School and as such, he will report to Charleston Southern on January 4, 2024.
“When I took this job, Anthony was the first guy I found on Twitter. I knew immediately he was one of the guys I was going to challenge. He’s done nothing but do everything we’ve asked him to do. He’s got great ball skills, great physical skills, he’s a 4.0 student but the thing that impresses me the most about him is any time anything bad happens in a game, he has the innate ability to just forget about it. You better have that at defensive back or quarterback. Go affect the game at the next play. It’s not good enough for you to be a phenomenal football player – you have to affect the people around you. You’re going to get his absolute best. He believes he’s the best and he wants to go against the best,” said Coffee head coach Mike Coe Wednesday morning.
Paulk, listed as 5’9”, 173 pounds, played both sides of the ball at Coffee. He was an All-State player in 2021 and an All-Region player as a sophomore, junior, and senior. This season, Paulk had 36 tackles, two interceptions, 18 pass breakups, and two blocked field goals. Offensively, he tallied 477 all-purpose yards and 10 touchdowns (five rushing, four receiving, and one kick return).
Though he is a two-way threat, the Buccaneers plan to play him at cornerback. “He is a very good student, very good cover guy. We got to watch him compete multiple times live and in person this summer in camp. He committed to us early. He has a great family and we are very excited to see what he can do playing corner for us,” says Charleston Southern head coach Gabe Giardina.
Playing college football has always been one of Paulk’s goals. He says that from the time he put a helmet on it’s what he wanted to do and it’s something he knew he could do. “I credit my family, God, my teachers, all my supporters who believed in me,” says Paulk. Throughout his high school career, Paulk remained focused and confident in his abilities. He never allowed himself to become discouraged and never compromised his goals. “Confidence will get you a long way in life. Don’t let anyone tell you anything else,” Paulk adds.
“I’ve coached a lot of guys who have played at the next level. But I believe he is the fiercest competitor of any sport I’ve been able to coach. He’s one of the reasons I moved here. I came up here before I was even hired and I met him. I felt that there was a special vibe coming from him. He’s the kind of guy who makes all of his teammates better. Good players play well; great players make their teammates play great. He’s an example of what we want our program to be, what we want our kids to be. He’s a special kid. I’m going to miss him and I can’t wait to go watch him play on Saturdays,” says Coffee defensive coordinator Mike Granato.