Egan back home with RPI
TROY, N. Y. » Ralph Isernia had known of Sean Egan before the two- sport Shaker star decided to play Division I baseball at Fairfield. Egan remembered getting recruitment emails fromthe head coach at RPI, but at the time he was set on playing baseball.
Egan was a First-TeamAll- Section baseball player for the Blue Bison. He hit .360 with three homers and 18 RBIs as a senior with 12 stolen bases. The kind of player who got opportunities to start as a freshman at Fairfield.
“Most of it was I just wanted to play football,” Egan said. “I still liked baseball. Nothing against Fairfield. Definitely it’s nice being this close to home. Most of it was that I wanted to play football.”
Three years later and Egan’s days at Fairfield are a part of the past. His days playing baseball are over too. In his third season with RPI, back in his hometown,
he’s one of the leading defensive backs on the team and was recently voted as a senior captain. The Engineers start their season on Saturday at 1 p. m. at EVAC Stadium against William Patterson.
Egan said coming back to RPI was about the opportunity to play football and be closer to home. And once he found out that Egan was interested, Isernia was happy to take a call from him.
“Being here, only for a couple years, to earn that trust,” Isernia said. “To have that trust from our players. They know exactly what they’re going to get from him. They know that he’s a no- nonsense guy, that he leads by example. He leads by D, they see that from him each and every day.”
Egan had success at Fairfield. He started four games as a freshman and even had one game where he recorded four RBIs against NJIT. He was invited to be a part of the local collegiate league summer team, the Albany Dutchmen, after his freshman year.
But last season he recorded 54 tackles, two interceptions,
and two tackles for a loss. He even had a touchdown for an RPI team that wen 6- 5. In his first year with the program, he was named the defensive rookie of the year and played mostly on special teams.
“He reached out and I said, ‘ Yeah, there’s a place for you on the team,’ Isernia said. “And we were definitely lucky to get him.”
Egan remembers the toughest part of playing football when he first got back was maybe the most simple part of it, as well. He struggled to catch the ball. It had been a long time since he had played competitively. And even then, it was only at the high school level.
His first taste of college football came later than most, and it came after more than a year off in between. But now he gets the opportunity to play every week in front of friends and family. In front of a coach that wanted him there long before he ever decided to go. And a team that respects himas a captain even though it’s only his third season on the roster.
“It’s nice being local,” Egan said. “I’ve known RPImy whole life. It’s awesome going to the school since I was little. Being a captain on the team here.”