Football has always been more than just four quarters to John Sikora.

After joining the program in 2011 as a recruited linebacker, Sikora will always remember what then-head coach Rick Shepas told him.

“[He told] us after our first practice—this game really does matter,” Sikora said. “When guys see each other 30 and 40 years from now, guys are still going to talk about their time playing football together.”

The past seven years Sikora has spent with the football program testifies that for him—football is everything he’s worked for. In seven years, he moved from on the field as a player to eventually the sideline as the linebacker coach.

Now, as the spring training season begins, Sikora is moving on from the team he earned three All-PAC honorable mentions with and two Academic All-American awards before joining the coaching staff. Last week, it was announced that Sikora has accepted a graduate assistant program with Stanford University to work with the offensive line beginning in June.

“There was an opportunity [at Stanford] where I knew they needed some graduate assistants,” Sikora said. “There were a couple openings for the 2018 season.”

After discovering the opportunity to join the coaching staff at Stanford through an online resource, Sikora said he had to apply for a master’s program to be considered for the position. With a deadline set at the end of January, Sikora said he went through a rigorous application process to apply for a master’s degree in liberal arts, in addition to reaching out to head coach David Shaw.

“I actually wrote coach Shaw a letter and I emailed his secretary,” Sikora said. “I just reached out to him and just [told] him that I applied to the graduate program and I’m anticipating being accepted and I would love to work with the football program in any way I can.”

With an acceptance rate hovering between 20 and 40 percent, Sikora said with each passing week, the more uncertain he became of his acceptance. Then, in mid-March, Stanford notified Sikora that he was one of 22 total individuals to be approved for the master’s degree program and was accepted as a graduate assistant with the football program. Following which, Sikora was immediately flown out for an interview and a tour of the facilities.

With aspirations to one day coach in the National Football League, Sikora said Stanford is the next step in the process.

“[Stanford is] selling [their] institution and how prestigious it is,” Sikora said. “And what a degree from a place like that can do for your future—it is impressive.”

With a start date set in June, Sikora’s time at Waynesburg University is slowly drawing to a close after seven seasons. In a drastic jump from Division III to Division I athletics, Sikora said he feels motivated more than anything else.

“I’m more excited than anything,” Sikora said. “I’m more excited to continue my growth and become the best coach I can be. I have a long way to go and I think this could be a great step towards learning more from every aspect of a football program.”

As Sikora reflects on his time at Waynesburg University, it doesn’t take long to remember some of the fondest moments of the past seven years: the 10-1 season in 2012 that resulted in a bowl victory; upsetting Washington & Jefferson at home in 2014 with a game-winning field goal in overtime and when Shepas beat Grove City to become the all-time winningest coach in school history.

Yet, as Sikora prepares to depart from his home in Washington, Pennsylvania to make the drive to Palo Alto, California, what sticks to Sikora the most is the influence football will always hold in his life.

“This is a special game… something that lasts 30 to 40 years in your memory,” Sikora said. “That’s obviously significant to the guys that play it.”