A 30-year old college football punter? At USF, Andrew Stokes is Papa Bear
Let’s be honest: We don’t usually write about punters.
We’ll talk about quarterbacks, running backs, receivers, linebackers, and even field goal kickers. But punters?
Um, why would we?
But here at Green, Gold, and Bold, we’re always looking for great stories, and USF punter Andrew Stokes is right up there with the best of them.
USF Coach Alex Golesh certainly thinks so.
“Andrew Stokes is legitimately probably my favorite person on the football team,” he said.
We’ll start with the fact that he is 30 years old, from Perth, Australia, and wound up at USF after ProKick Australia sent his tape to a few teams in 2020. Prior to that, he spent seven years playing Australian rules football for the Railways in the Great Northern Football League
“He's older than most of our young coaches, most of our graduate assistants and analysts, so he has such a cool approach, and he wants to fit in,” Golesh said.
“But he's also looked at as a father figure by a lot of those guys in that specialist room. Those young guys just follow him around like Papa Bear. He is so fun to be around.”
Stokes has mastered the art of poking fun at himself, such as when he was asked about Golesh saying he was his favorite player.
“I can definitely see that,” he said. “It's probably because I’m the closest to him in age.”
Or, when asked if he looked at the other players as teammates or just kids.
“It just depends on what the scenario is,” he said. “I mean, it's difficult when you hear that they were born in 2004.”
Stokes is pretty good at what he does. He put 21 punts inside the 20-yard line last season with zero touchbacks.
“I always joke with him like, ‘Man, I hope I never see you in a game, but if I do, man, we got to have so much confidence in you.’” Golesh said.
That’s because Golesh doesn’t like to punt. But that’s a story for another day.
“His mental approach to the game is phenomenal,” Golesh said. “He brings a mature approach, not just the specialist room, but our special teams unit in general -- really intelligent.”
This is Stokes’ final season, and he will graduate with a degree in communications. That’s fitting because of how well he has communicated with his teammates – even the ones born in 2004 – about how to conduct themselves and fully grab the opportunity they have.
Most guys his age work at jobs they may or may not enjoy. He used to wonder if it made sense to fly halfway around the world to join a football team with players, in some cases, just out of high school.
He doesn’t ask himself that question anymore, though.
“I think for me, I want to play sport for as long as I can, and it's an awesome opportunity to get a great education at a great university,” he said. So, if I were working in an office, I probably wouldn’t have been in America right now.
“I wouldn't be getting my degree and all that kind of stuff or making the friends I have here. I just remind myself that we're all on a different path, and there's no timeline for everyone. So I'm just happy to live in the present and figure out the rest of it when I need to.”