Hannon still holding hope for YSU football

By Greg Gulas

The Penguins radio announcer and United Way president still has hope.

BOARDMAN — Bob Hannon has never been one to shy away from giving his opinion.

In his 20th season as the voice of YSU football, the former sports director at WYTV and now the president/CPO of the Mahoning Valley United Way, Hannon admits last week’s 31-28 loss to the Liberty Flames was tough to accept.

He fell short of writing off the Penguins come playoff time, noting to the weekly Curbstone Coaches membership at the Blue Wolf Banquet Center Monday that the make-up of this year’s Missouri Valley Football Conference might have its league champion represent the league in the postseason with four overall losses.

“The Missouri Valley Conference has good teams, but not a great team; one that stands out this season. It looks like Western Illinois is the team to beat right now, and that is the team we will have to face on their turf in the final game of the year,” Hannon said.

As for that loss to Liberty, Hannon pointed out several factors which may have contributed to the end result.

“We had a hard time stopping their running back, Rashad Jennings, and that really hurt us at crunch time,” he said.

“There are no excuses from me, but in defense of the team and coaches they were playing very thin on the defensive line and that was a big factor all game.

“The top three players comprising the Penguin defensive front; Torrance Nicholson, Luke Matelan and Mychal Savage were all out due to injury and that didn’t help matters.

“Our inability to run the ball against the Flames’ defense, however, especially after the success that we enjoyed the previous week against North Dakota State was also a deciding factor,” Hannon noted.

“One huge positive was quarterback Brandon Summers, who set the single-game completion record with 32 which eclipsed the old mark by Trenton Lykes in the late ’80s.

“He had a break-out game against Liberty, but in order for us to be a playoff-caliber team we will need to score in the 30’s if we expect to win. That is where Summers’ leadership will be necessary,” he added.

Hannon became interested in the open United Way job; first researching the post for several months before actually applying for the position.

When he was convinced that he felt he could be a difference-maker, it was easy to convince the selection committee that he was the right person for the job.

“I was looking for a new challenge and boy, did I ever find one. Our campaign goal is $2.9 million; up $100,000 from last year.

“Our campaign runs from September to January, but our peak months are September thru November,” Hannon noted.

The United Way is responsible for funding 28 agencies and 70 total programs. With an office staff of seven, everyone is expected to pitch in to make sure the campaign is a resounding success.

“It’s a challenge to say the least, but one that we readily accept. As the safety net for the safety net, visiting the agencies and monitoring those programs is first and foremost,” he added.

Hannon is working hard on securing a guest speaker for their “Champions Among Us Dinner” in the spring, equally dividing his time between that and the golf outing which takes place the following day.

“The National Football League is the biggest sports sponsor of the United Way, so we will continue to work on maintaining that relationship.

“Branching out locally with hockey, baseball, basketball and other sports is also an area that we have already begun to explore,” he said.

Whether Hannon remains in the catbird seat as YSU’s football play-by-play broadcaster will be evaluated after the season.

“I would love to remain the voice of the Penguins for many years to come, but their season goes up against our capital campaign and make no mistake, the United Way is my top priority,” he stated.

Next week, former major leaguer George “Shotgun” Shuba will be the guest speaker.