Wolford helps Illini resurgence
The Youngstown area and especially the Ursuline High football family will have a special interest in the Rose Bowl game in Pasadena, Calif., on New Year’s Day.
That’s because Eric Wolford, a former Ursuline football player, is the offensive line coach for the University of Illinois team (9-3), which will lock horns with Southern California (10-2) at 4:30 p.m. over ABC-TV with a payout of $17 million.
One of the rising stars in the Youngstown area’s growing “Valley of Coaches” who played for coach Dick Angle at Ursuline, Wolford is in his first year with the Illini and his 14th season overall as a college football coach.
He came to Illinois from the University of Arizona, where he spent the previous three years as the Wildcats’ offensive line coach under coach Mike Stoops, a native of Youngstown from Cardinal Mooney High.
One of the highlights of Wolford’s first season so far with Illinois was the Illini’s 28-21 ambush of Ohio State in Columbus on Nov. 11. The famous victory shattered the Buckeyes’ undefeated record and almost spoiled their chance to redeem themselves in the national championship game.
What happened was that Wolford’s offensive line managed to block well enough in the clutch for quarterback Juice Williams to sneak the ball at least a half-inch to pick up a first down with 6:53 left, enabling the Illini to maintain possession and protect their 28-21 lead.
But Wolford’s line almost didn’t get its big chance.
Offensive line paves way
for Williams’ first down
Illinois had lined up to punt on a fourth-and-inches at its 34, but Ohio State coach Jim Tressel called timeout and Illini coach Ron Zook reconsidered after being prodded by Williams to go for the first down instead of punting.
“I said, ‘Coach, you don’t think we can get a half an inch?”’ Williams said amid the uproar of the postgame celebration. “He looked at me and got on the headset to [offensive coordinator Mike] Locksley. He [Zook] said, ‘If you don’t get it, I’ll hurt you.”
Zook remembered it differently.
“Juice said, ‘I’ll get you an inch,”’ Zook said. “I said, ‘You’d better.”’
Williams sneaked for the first down and twice more he converted third-and-long on quarterback draws to burn the clock — thanks to more blocking from Wolford’s offensive line.
Tressel said of the timeout, “I’d like to have that one back.”
Played for Kansas State;
Began coaching in 1994
Wolford, a four-year starter for the Kansas State football team under coach Bill Snyder, launched his coaching career in 1994 when he remained at the Manhattan, Kan., school as a graduate assistant for the Wildcats.
He then advanced to assistant coaching jobs at Emporia State (1995), South Florida (1996-99), Houston (2000-02) and North Texas (2003) before hooking up with Stoops at Arizona.
One of the Highlights of Wolford’s tenure at Arizona was that the 2004 and 2005 teams led the All-Pacific-10 Conference in fewest sacks allowed.
In Wolford’s senior season as a player at Kansas State, he helped the Wildcats win their first bowl game in the 1993 Copper Bowl.
He received his bachelor’s degree in 1994 in social sciences with a focus on monetary policy and banking.
Wolford has been a contributor to the big turnaround by Illinois in Zook’s third season. Zook, a native of Loudonville and a former Miami of Ohio player, endured records of 2-9 and 2-10 his first two years with the Illini before bouncing back with 8-3 this year, and winning a Rose Bowl berth and the Schutt Sports Coach of the Year Award.
Wolford and his wife, Melinda, have one son, Stone.
Other area coaches
billed in bowl games
Several other “Valley of Coaches” members will join Wolford in the upcoming bowl festival, including Tressel (Youngstown State) and Bo Pelini (Cardinal Mooney), the LSU defensive coordinator who recently was named Nebraska coach.
Tressel and Pelini will match wits when Ohio State (11-1) and LSU (11-2) square off in the BCS National Championship Game Jan. 7 in the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans at 8 p.m. on the Fox television network. Adding area flavor to the game are Jim Heacock (West Branch) and Nick Siciliano (Austintown Fitch), both Ohio State assistants.
In addition, coach Bob Stoops (Cardinal Mooney) of Oklahoma (11-2) will send his Sooners against West Virginia (10-2) in the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 2 in Glendale, Ariz., at 8 p.m. on Fox TV.
And coach Mark Mangino (New Castle and Youngstown State assistant) will pit Kansas (11-1) against Virginia Tech (11-2) in the Orange Bowl Jan. 3 in Miami at 8 p.m. on Fox. Tim Beck (Cardinal Mooney) is an assistant for Kansas.
Also, Doug Phillips (former Springfield and Salem High coach) is an assistant coach at Bowling Green (8-4), which will play Tulsa (9-4) in the GMAC Bowl Jan. 6 in Mobile, Ala., at 8 p.m. on ESPN.
XJohn Kovach is a sportswriter for The Vindicator. Write to him at kovach@vindy.com.