Ken Seals turned Weatherford into a playoff team. He hopes to do the same at Vanderbilt.

Ken Seals knows a thing or two about leading a turnaround in a football program.

The year before he became the starting varsity quarterback for Weatherford, the Kangaroos were 0-10.

Then he led the Roos to back-to-back playoff appearances.

Now, he’s planning to lead a change in culture in the Vanderbilt University football team as he signed his national letter of intent with the Commodores during the early signing period Wednesday.

“It’s definitely something I’ve experienced before,” Seals said with a smile. “And just like here, I can guarantee you no other team is going to outwork us.”

Seals transferred to Weatherford after playing at Azle his freshman season. Per University Interscholastic League rules, he had to play on the Weatherford junior varsity squad as a sophomore.

But as a junior, he led the Kangaroos to their first playoff berth since 2007. This past season as a senior, he guided them to a 7-4 record, a return to the playoffs, and the most wins since 2005.

Seals passed for 5,714 yards and 53 touchdowns in his two seasons with the Kangaroos. He is believed to hold several school records for most career touchdown passes, TD passes in a season (33 in 2019), total TDs (65, including 12 rushing), and total yards (6,426, including over 700 rushing).

Vanderbilt is coming off a 3-9 season, and the Commodores have had only three winning seasons since 2000. Weatherford head coach Billy Mathis believes Seals is the leader Vandy needs to change its culture and compete in the Southeast Conference, which includes the likes of Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Florida, Auburn and Texas A&M.

“It meant the world to us to have a quarterback who’s a coach on the field,” Mathis said. “Ken’s the type of guy who can go in and win the starting job as a true freshman, not just with his physical ability, but his ability to be coachable. He’ll learn the system and look like he’s been running it for years.”

Seals said he’s looking forward to the stout competition the SEC has to offer, adding with a laugh, “Better competition makes you better, but those are some tough dudes.”

Seals said while he’s excited about the journey ahead, it is bittersweet to leave Weatherford.

“My teammates and my coaches became great friends, and they made me better for it. It’s going to be hard to leave, but I’m excited about what’s in front of me,” said Seals, who will enroll early. “I came here not really knowing where I was going to end up, but I had faith it was going to work out, and it has.”

This story was originally published December 20, 2019 at 7:00 AM.