KALISPELL — Henry Sellards has been a force in the trenches at Kalispell Glacier for the past four years, and became a highly recruited prospect.
After decommitting from North Dakota State of the FCS, Sellards has since signed with Nevada of the FBS, where he will link up with new Wolf Pack coach Jeff Choate, a former head coach at Montana State.
"I saw a phone call with the last name Choate and I'm like, 'That sounds a little familiar,'" recalled the 6-foot-5, 285-pound Sellards. "Picked it up ... ‘Coach Choate, head coach in Nevada football here.’ I was like, wow, where is this coming from? And it was a super big deal for me, really just made my dreams come true."
Sellards previously committed to North Dakota State last August, but after Bison coach Matt Entz left for an assistant job at USC, and when the FBS came calling through the form of a former Bobcat coach, Sellards couldn’t resist the opportunity to further his craft at a higher level for the sport he loves.
"It's really the ultimate team sport, there’s nothing like it. If one piece of the puzzle isn't working, the rest of it's not going to work, and I think that's really something special," Sellards said. "You know, you can have guys in basketball take over the game, soccer, baseball, but football you can't really just have one guy that does it all, you have to have a whole team."
Sellards was selected to play in Saturday's Montana East-West Shrine Game, but he's already departed for Reno, Nevada, with his parents to get moved in on campus and won't be able to participate.
As for what the step to the next level means to his parents?
"Well it means the world, I mean what an opportunity to have a full scholarship to pay for college," said Sellards' mom, Nathalie Annu. "It's going to be a lot of frequent flyer miles for me to go see all the games, but I just couldn't be more proud."
And it means the world to Sellards' dad, who has been heavily involved in his football career since a young age, taking him to arena football games and as a coach.
"He’s been working since he was 6, and he started playing tackle football when he was six years old and just how much work, he's just always been that kid," said Ken Sellards. "As a youngster, even as an offensive lineman, he won most valuable team member.
"For a lineman to get to two-time captain here at Glacier, (it's) never been done. It just says a lot about my kid's character."
Sellards hopes his career at Nevada can help serve as a catalyst for even more young players in Montana to reach the FBS.
"It's really such an honor, I hope it helps build a gateway for other kids to go to that level," said Sellards. "And you know, just build better relationships with the FBS and Montana."
