For Carlton Agudosi, giving back is about more than coaching young athletes or teaching the fundamentals of football. It is about showing up, listening and passing along lessons that took years to learn.
A Somerset County native and Franklin Township resident, Agudosi knows firsthand how powerful sports can be in shaping a young person’s life. After playing football at Rutgers University and eventually reaching the NFL, CFL and XFL, he retired from professional football about three years ago. Today, he is focused on helping the next generation build confidence, overcome adversity and understand that success extends far beyond the scoreboard.
“Giving back to me just means using what God blessed me with and using the knowledge and everything that I gained to pay it forward,” Agudosi says. “Knowing information and knowing how to attack situations and handle situations, there’s no good if it’s only for you.”
That philosophy is rooted in his upbringing. Agudosi’s father immigrated to the United States from Nigeria, while his mother is from Queens, New York. His parents supported him and his siblings and gave him the freedom to pursue the sports he loved.
As a child, Agudosi was already dreaming big. He created football drills at home, imagined game-winning scenarios in the backyard and spent hours watching NFL Network. His path to the professional level, however, included challenges.
One early memory still captures the lesson he hopes to share with the athletes he coaches today. During one of his first experiences wearing football pads, Agudosi was knocked to the ground during a hitting drill.
“I was like, ‘Oh, shoot, I’m playing now,’” he says with a laugh.
His coach encouraged him to get back up and keep going. Agudosi did, and the lesson stayed with him.
“If I get knocked down, whether it’s football or in life, I think I’ll be able to get back up,” he says.
That message of resilience is now central to his work with young athletes. Agudosi currently coaches football at Montclair High School, middle school boys basketball at Montclair Kimberley Academy and girls flag football at Mount St. Dominic Academy.
He also recognizes the responsibility that comes with being a former NFL player. His professional background can immediately command attention from young athletes, but Agudosi does not take that influence lightly.
“A lot of responsibility comes with that at the same time,” he says.
For him, mentorship often begins with something simple: paying attention.
Agudosi says young people notice whether an adult knows their name, listens to what they say or makes them feel heard. Even brief conversations can matter because a coach may not know what a child is experiencing outside of practice.
“I just try to make sure that I am attentive,” he says. “Those little details matter.”
He hopes those interactions stay with athletes long after they leave the field or court. When they face difficult moments later in life, he wants them to remember that someone believed in them.
Agudosi’s commitment to service is also deeply connected to his faith. Although he grew up attending church, he says his faith became more personal during his college years, particularly while facing uncertainty and challenges at Rutgers.
During his junior year, he accepted a small Bible handed out on Rutgers’ College Avenue campus in New Brunswick and eventually began attending a weekly Bible study with teammates. Over time, prayer became part of his approach to football and life.
Rather than viewing faith as a guarantee that everything would work out the way he wanted, Agudosi found that it helped him release some of the pressure he placed on himself and approach challenges with greater peace.
That perspective now influences the way he approaches service, fatherhood and mentorship. He and his wife, Asisa, are raising two young daughters, Everly, 4, and Eden, 2, and Agudosi wants them to grow up seeing that helping others is part of who their family is.
“I just want them to know that their dad helps the younger generation develop and get better,” he says.
He also wants his daughters to know they can love sports, pursue their own interests and follow whatever path inspires them. For Agudosi, that is part of the legacy he hopes to build—one measured less by statistics or professional accomplishments and more by the people he has encouraged along the way.
When asked what he hopes people remember about him decades from now, his answer is simple.
“I want people to remember me more for what I did off the field than on the field,” he says.
He imagines former athletes remembering him as a coach who cared, pushed them to improve and helped them take their next step. He hopes his daughters may one day meet someone who tells them their father made a difference.
For Agudosi, that would mean more than any statistic.
His work with young athletes also extends beyond school teams. Through the Carlton Agudosi Youth Football Camp in Franklin Township, he works with young players on football skills, competition and mentorship.
Giving back, in his view, does not require a grand gesture. It can be a conversation, encouragement at the right moment or simply taking the time to make a young person feel seen.
“Being present and showing up may seem like a small step, but it can make a lasting impact,” Agudosi says.
After a career spent pursuing opportunities on the football field, Agudosi is now focused on helping young people recognize their own—one practice, one conversation and one athlete at a time.