Cornelius Anthony is coming home.
The Elkins grad, who has had a tremendous life through football, has been named the head coach and co-campus coordinator at Houston-area power Hightower High School. The job came open after coach Joseph Sam took the head job at Arlington Bowie.
Anthony was the head coach at Terry High School in Lamar Consolidated ISD.
"It's like heaven," Anthony laughed. "Hightower has always been loaded with great players and this is a football community. It's such an attractive job that any coach would have their eye on it as it came open.
"It's a homecoming for me. I grew up here, my parents live five minutes from the campus. I look forward to making a difference in a community that virtually shaped who I am. It's so new that it's sort of still surreal right now."
Anthony was a star at Elkins and then a three-year starter at linebacker for the Texas A&M Aggies. He went on to play in the NFL and CFL for seven years.
"My main advice and focus for my players are that you have to put just as much training into academics as you do training for your sport," he said. "I played with so many great players in high school, who were better than me. But because I had the grades, I've been able to have a great life through the game of football. It's real and the first thing the college recruiters ask when they come through my door.
"Is so-and-so academically qualified?"
While he's "beyond excited" to start at Hightower, he had to say goodbye to his team at Terry High School.
"There was not a dry eye in the house," he said. "I've spent so much time with them. They become your children, who hang on every word that comes out of your mouth. It was hard to say goodbye but they understand that I'm just a phone call or text away."
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