Coughlin Earns Scholar Athlete Honors From the National Football Foundation
Hunter Coughlin entered the 2014 fall season aiming to make his mark with North Haven football and the senior certainly did that by earning a starting spot at cornerback for a strong Indians’ squad. But even though he was spending tons of time practicing how to deflect passes and defend receivers, Hunter made sure he made time to hit the books in order to achieve equal success in the academic arena. The result is a well-rounded young man who’s ranked 37th in his class and sports an impressive 4.17 grade-point average, yet it doesn’t stop there for Hunter, who also sings and plays multiple instruments in several musical outfits at the high school. This is why Head Coach Anthony Sagnella nominated Hunter to be the football team’s scholar athlete as awarded by the National Football Foundation. On April 10, Hunter was presented with his distinction at the Casey-O’Brien New Haven County Chapter of the NFF and College Hall of Fame’s 55th annual scholar athlete awards dinner.
“I was excited. It was extremely rewarding to realize that all the hard work I’d put in had paid off from an academic standpoint, a social standpoint by being involved in the community, and the athletic side, as well,” says Hunter, who wants to study exercise science in college and work as a physical therapist. “Grades are a fundamental part of high school. I’ve been mentored by a lot of people and the founding principle between all of them is grades. You have to get good grades to get anywhere and that was always instilled in my life from an early point.”
Hunter didn’t give a speech at the NFF dinner, although he did take center stage and do a brief interview in front of everyone. Hunter was nervous because wasn’t sure what questions they’d ask, but they were all about his musical interests and, like a true performer, he answered them with aplomb.
Hunter, who additionally volunteers in soup kitchens and refurbishes houses through his church, was one of 27 football players from New Haven County recognized at the event for their academic excellence, leadership, and citizenship. There some additional awards handed out that night and one of them went to Sagnella, who was named the Coach of the Year for this local chapter of the NFF. Hunter says being honored in tandem with Sagnella made a wonderful night all the more special.
“It was a huge honor to be in the same conversation with Coach Sagnella. It’s been one of the best experiences being coached by him with how professional he is on and off the field,” Hunter says. “Coach is one of the most humble people I know. He’s a great mentor, a great coach, a great dad, and a great man.”
In terms of how Sagnella feels about Hunter, it’s clear that the positive sentiments are mutual.
“Hunter is a well-balanced individual who’s athletic, academic, involved in the community, and works hard in everything he does. Hunter is the epitome of what we want our guys to be. That night was a good night for North Haven football,” Sagnella says. “On the field, Hunter was a major contributor as our long snapper and a starting corner. He was on the short end of the stick athletically when he lined up against some people, so Hunter had to be focused, detailed, and fundamentally sound and he was all of those things. He was prepared for every opponent and that carried him through the season.”
Hunter says it was his “ultimate goal” to start in the secondary and he proved a key piece of a stout Indians’ defense. One of his biggest moments came on Oct. 2, when Hunter picked off a pass late to help seal a 28-19 victory against Hand—a team North Haven hadn’t beaten since 2001. The Indians ultimately won nine games, captured another division title, and made the State Playoffs, where Hunter put together another of his finest performances.
“To know I made a key play in the Hand game, I can’t really put into words what I felt. I will definitely never forget that moment,” says Hunter. “The Windsor game was also one of my most significant. I was a target because they had tall, fast wide receivers, but I spent all week lined up against [assistant] coach [Brian] Woodford, who emulated their receivers, and that helped me a tremendous amount because I didn’t get beat deep. Coach Sagnella said it was one of my best performances of the season.”
In reflecting upon his final football season, Hunter feels pleased that the Indians met many of their goals and will forever hold a plethora of positive memories from the campaign. And as Hunter says, there’s no place he’d rather make those memories than in his hometown.
“It’s a great feeling to be in North Haven. It’s such a tight-knit community and I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else,” he says. “Everyone here is in it for each other.”