New QB coach looks to add consistency to Point quarterback room – Valley Times-News

The Point Skyhawks entered the offseason with openings at key coaching positions ahead of football season. One of the biggest vacancies was that of quarterbacks coach. The Skyhawks filled that role in April and named Charlie Skalaski IV as coach to lead the most important position on the field.

Skalaski comes to Point with 16 years of experience. Skalaski is an offensive mind, but he has spent time coaching both sides of the ball. Skalaski served at Albany State the past two seasons as quarterbacks coach.

Before his stop at Albany State, Skalaski coached the Robert Morris wideouts. Skalaski coached defensive backs at Charleston Southern. Skalaski was defensive quality control manager at Liberty before his stop at Charleston Southern and also held several other roles during his time at Liberty.

Skalaski spent several years coaching the defensive side of the ball, but he always had his sights set on getting back to offense. Skalaski used his years of experience as a defensive coach to learn and better understand how to attack defenses.

“I’ve had the opportunity to coach defensive or offensive quality control,” Skalaski said. “Every veteran coach I’ve ever known, even though I was an offensive player, told me to take the defensive position because you learn a lot about playing the ball doing that. I was able to do that for two and a half years, and for me, it was a learning experience.

The Skyhawks quarterback position was a revolving door last season. The Skyhawks had three different quarterbacks fighting for the starting role during the 2023 season and never managed to find much consistency.

Skalaski hopes to bring consistency to the position, but he also wants to be consistent as a coach for the players.

“Consistency is what I expect from them, but consistency is also what I’m going to give them,” Skalaski said. “All these guys have different skills and talents and abilities…I want them to be really good and what they’re good at and then ask them to do the things they’re good at and be consistent. Then, over time, you also work on their shortcomings.

Skalaski emphasizes quarterbacks doing their job and trusting those around them. Payton Allen, Mitch Gossett and several young quarterbacks will compete for the starting quarterback position over the summer.
The competition will come down to who makes the right play every day, but Skalaski is also looking for a quarterback who will take the reins and be the leader of the team.

“That will be a big thing that I start this summer with the guys, just doing some Zoom meetings and leadership training,” Skalaski said. “I’m just trying to develop that side of them while we’re away from each other.”

Skalaski will handle recruiting for Point in areas like Savannah and other areas of eastern Georgia. When recruiting, Skalaski looks for players who fit Point and who may have been overlooked by other teams.

Over the years, several coaches have had an influence on him as a coach. Skalaski’s father, also Charlie Skalaski, coached football his entire life and was able to teach how a coach should show up every day.

During his 16-year career, Skalaski had several other coaching influences. Skalaski played and coached under Frank Rocco at Liberty Christian Academy in Virginia, and Rocco’s impact still influences Skalaski today.

“Playing and coaching Coach Rocco at the high school level, he ran everything like a college program,” Skalaski said. “I’ve worked in big companies, and I would always put it head to head with anyone when it comes to the X’s and O’s, but also when it comes to managing, organizing, motivating guys and simple work. That’s probably the thing I learned the most from him, was how to get the job done.

Skalaski learned the most from Jamey Chadwell from a scheme standpoint. Skalaski was on the opposite side of the field as he was on Liberty’s coaching staff and Chadwell was coaching at Charleston Southern. Skalaski eventually coached under Chadwell at Charleston Southern.

Skalaski took over as defensive backs coach at Charleston Southern, but he wanted to work under Chadwell in any role. Chadwell taught Skalaski how to properly love players in order to get them to buy into the program.

Skalaski made several stops along the way, but he felt Point was the next step for his career. Ultimately, the way Point’s program was run from top to bottom and Trevor Zeiders’ character as head coach made Skalaski feel like the Skyhawks were the right fit for him.

“The most important thing was that I wanted to work for a man of character and someone I could trust… When this position opened up, I started asking questions (about Zeiders), I haven’t heard anything negative,” Zalaski said. “Once I had a chance to come here and see it, it’s a small campus in Point but it’s a nice campus. They try to do things the right way.