YSU Olsavsky enjoying new role as coach

The second-year coach thinks this year's linebackers have a lot of potential.
By PETE MOLLICA
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
YOUNGSTOWN -- Jerry Olsavsky spent 10 years as a player in the National Football League, nine of them with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
He was an All-American at the University of Pittsburgh and a two-time All-City standout at Chaney High.
But Olsavsky is the first to admit he's still learning how to coach young players at Youngstown State.
Olsavsky is in his second season with the Penguins as linebackers coach, a position he knew very well as a player. A year ago he came in to coach a veteran group, which produced the team's top tackler, Yancey Marcum, and five of the top eight tacklers.
This season the Penguins are young -- Marcum is the only senior holdover and he's been hurt and hasn't played yet in practice.
"We're young, but we've got a great bunch of kids who can run and like to hit," Olsavsky said. "One thing about linebacker is that if you are quick enough and like to hit, you can be good."
New scheme
The linebackers are just part of the YSU defense, which struggled through the spring, trying to adopt a new scheme put in by new co-defensive coordinators Mike Kolakowski and Dana Chambers.
"It's wasn't so much that the new system is that difficult to learn, but that it was thrown at them all at once and it just took time to get familiar with it," Olsavsky said.
"Once you learn it [you] realize that it's a pretty simple system and like I said, if you can run and hit it will work."
With Marcum nursing a torn pectoral muscle from summer weight conditioning, some of the younger players have stepped up.
Jeremiah Wright, a 5-foot-10, 200-pound sophomore from Orlando, Fla., had seven tackles, including two for losses, in Tuesday's jersey scrimmage.
Freshman redshirt Jeff Koval (6-1, 205) from Austintown Fitch will team up with junior Mike Andrews, who was a starter last year. Andrews (6-1, 234) from Oldsmar, Fla., was among the team leaders in tackles last year.
Adapting
"They're young and they're very quick," said Olsavsky, "and they love to play the game.
"I haven't been coaching all that long and I'm still learning a lot myself," he added. "People look at me funny when I say that, but it's true. We both had a lot to learn this year.
"The key is to get good young kids who can run fast and love to hit and then try not to [mess] them up too much," Olsavsky added.
Olsavsky likes redshirt freshman transfer James Terry (6-2, 225) from Stafford, Va., who made a couple of hits in Tuesday's scrimmage that drew a lot of attention.
"I didn't coach those hits that he made, those were strictly the football player in him," said Olsavsky. "He's a good one and again he loves to run and hit. I've been blessed with a great bunch of kids and if we can stay healthy we're going to be a pretty good unit this season.
Wednesday the Penguins worked out in helmets and shoulder pads. Today they held their final two-a-day workouts and will have a rehearsal scrimmage Friday at 8:15 a.m. before taking Saturday off. They have a session at 7 p.m. Sunday before classes begin Monday.