Filkins’ Next Big Play: Finding the Future of Peninsula Football

Former Seahawks coach and current athletic director Ross Filkins is passing a torch fueled by three decades of discipline, development and determination.

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Ross Filkins has spent 10 years as Peninsula High School’s athletic director, hiring a roster of talented coaches across each sport. But this time, the hiring process hits closer to home. After 30 seasons as the Seahawks’ head football coach, Filkins is stepping away from the sidelines and into the unique position of hiring his own replacement.

“It would’ve been selfish of me to continue to try to do three full-time jobs and risk letting the kids down,” said Filkins, who also teaches world history at the school. “Being a head coach here is a full-time job. To anyone who thinks it’s not, it’s because they’ve never been a head football coach. The demands are literally year-round.”

At 55, Filkins isn’t ready to walk away from PHS entirely, but balancing his roles as athletic director, teacher and coach was no longer sustainable. By stepping down and finding his own successor, he hopes to ensure the program he’s spent three decades building remains in capable hands.

“I’m looking for someone who loves the game, loves working with kids, understands how important it is to serve the community, and someone who believes character development and leadership is what it’s all about,” he said.

That same focus on character and leadership has defined Filkins’ career. After graduating from Washington State University, where he played a few seasons as a defensive lineman, he landed a student teaching job at Peninsula. When former Seahawks football coach Bill Stout jetted for the same job at Bellarmine Prep before the 1995 season, Filkins applied for the head coaching job, thinking it would be good interview experience for a 25-year-old. Newly married and expecting his first child, he was looking for something a little bit more permanent to support his budding family. He just didn’t realize how permanent it would be.

Over the next 30 years, Filkins transformed Peninsula football into one of the state’s most consistent programs, with 10 conference titles, 18 state playoff appearances, and 184 wins — making him the school’s all-time winningest coach. But for Filkins, racking up victories was never the main focus.

“Games are just celebrations for having good practices, and the scoreboard is a reflection of doing all the little things right,” said Filkins, who has been honored as a Seattle Seahawks High School Coach of the Week three times. “But whether we win or lose, the sun is going to come up the next day, and we’re back to work.”

In his early years, he leaned heavily on the guidance of veteran assistants and mentors like Steve Levenseller and Marco Malich to navigate the challenges of leading a program. Levenseller coached with him until 2011; Malich was the head baseball coach until retiring in 2012 and is in the state hall of fame.

“I didn’t know what I didn’t know back then,” he said. “The whole benefit of making mistakes is learning from them and working to make sure you don’t repeat them.”

That philosophy of continual improvement became a hallmark of Filkins’ tenure. Around 2006, he spearheaded a cultural reset, working with parents, players and staff to emphasize freshman development, character and leadership. Since the reboot, the Seahawks have won an astounding 70% of their games and only suffered three losing seasons, including 2023 and 2024.

The Peninsula School District is being sued in federal court over an injury sustained by a Gig Harbor quarterback after an alleged late hit during the Fish Bowl Sept. 15, 2023. Filkins and the PHS student who made the tackle are also defendants. Filkins would not discuss details but said “I’m looking forward to the full truth coming out and correcting the public record. We feel real good about how we do things around here.”

“He always looked after the athletes like they were his own children,” said Will Wright, a former player from 2016 to 2020. Wright, who is Black, credits Filkins with providing a program where Black athletes “felt safe, protected, and appreciated,” and for being a father figure to him. “He’s one of the best men I’ve ever known.”

Micah Hannam, who joined the Seahawks as a freshman in 2002 with no football experience, said Filkins made him feel part of the team from day one. Under Filkins’ guidance, Hannam developed into a standout offensive tackle and earned a spot on the Washington State University roster.

“His ability to challenge me on and off the field pushed me to continually strive to be the best version of myself,” said Graham Schmidt, who played for Filkins from 2015 to 2019.

While he said he still has “a lot of good tread” left and hasn’t ruled out a return to coaching someday, for now Filkins is focused on finding a head coach who shares his passion for the game and the community. He said there’s been strong interest, and he expects interviews to get underway by February.

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