Peninsula’s Sean Skladany signs with Eastern Washington football
The NCAA’s early signing period for Division I football programs, which started Dec. 16, is an exciting time for high school athletes.
Among the numerous p;ayers to sign their National Letters of Intent was Peninsula High School’s Sean Skladany, who signed with Eastern Washington University.
“I selected Eastern because I liked the fact that they showed the most interest in me,” Skladany said. “I just like the way the coaching staff communicates with me. Also as a freshman, I plan on redshirting but they said I could get into four games but we’ll see… They gave me the feeling that coach [Ross] Filkins and every coach here gave me. It’s a good vibe there.”
Because of the unusual and socially distant times that many residents are now under from the guidance given by the Governor’s Office and Washington State Department of Health, Skladany didn’t have the typical recruitment from Eastern.
And with another sign of the times, his recruitment began with direct messages from the Eagles’ coaching staff on Twitter.
“[They recruited me] at first through Twitter, they started DMing me a little bit. And then when COVID started hitting, they started calling me and Zoom calling me,” Skladany said. “It was hard [not touring campus] because I’ve barely seen the campus at all and still don’t really know much about what it is like there but I’m excited to get there.”
One of the other reasons that Skladany feels comfortable signing with the Eagles is that they have a reputation of being a hard-nosed, gritty football program. He immediately wants to prove himself and that he can compete with anyone that is on the team.
As a member of the Seahawks, Skladany is a two-way player. On offense, he played running back for the Seahawks.
He carried the ball for 822 yards and 17 touchdowns for the Seahawks, earning him the 3A South Sound Conference Most Valuable Player honors.
“Sean has fought through adversity, he had a catastrophic [knee] injury he sustained in basketball when he first got here,” Filkins said. “It was a little longer than a one-year injury. He didn’t have an easy path but the perseverance and work ethic he learned along the way paid off.”
On defense, Skladany plays defensive end. He will enter the Eagles’ program as a defensive end/linebacker hybrid player and continue that love he has for hitting the opposing players.
During his junior year with the Seahawks, Skladany racked up 52 tackles, three sacks and an interception. And that has the defensive coaches for the Eagles very excited.
“He first caught my eye just as an athlete and seeing him do all these things,” said Eagles’ defensive coordinator Eti Ena in an official recruiting video posted to Twitter. “You start watching and seeing the way he moves, he plays physical… It’s a skillset and things like that we are looking for in terms of an overall athlete at [defensive end]. He was able to show that to us.”
The newest member of the Eagles’ squad has yet to play a senior year of football because of the coronavirus pandemic gripping the world right now. But Skladany’s signing is a sign of good things to come for the young athlete.
It fulfills more than a dream for him but a purpose, as he feels that playing football is what he was meant to do in life.
“I enjoy getting to show what I’m good at, what I’m made to do,” he said. “I feel like I was put here for a reason and that is football.”
Skladany and the Seahawks are hoping that there will be a season in March when it is clear for them to play again. Otherwise, he will ride off to Cheney and begin his career with the Eagles come summer time.