Offense needs Summers to have big season

Veteran offensive coordinator Brian Wright knows the importance of having a great leader in the backfield.

By PETE MOLLICA

VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF

YOUNGSTOWN — A year ago veteran offensive coordinator Brian Wright and his unit went through a season that they would best like to forget.

The Penguins struggled through a 4-8 campaign that was marred by injuries and a couple of quarterback defections that really kept the team from reaching its potential.

Wright and the offense put those struggles behind them before spring practice began. He now sees a group of players that are ready to step up and put the program back to where it once was.

“The fundamentals of offense haven’t changed,” Wright said. “You still have to have the people and put them into the right spots and you definitely need to have the key people in the right places.”

“Last year when Brandon (senior quarterback Brandon Summers) was healthy, we were scoring points and giving ourselves a chance to win,” he added. “As long as he was making the right decisions we were giving ourselves a chance.”

“I don’t think that we really learned anything that we didn’t already know.”

This season Wright said the Penguins are trying to get back to its old identity.

“Not that we’re not going to spread the ball around, but we’re going to get back to the fundamentals of playing hard-nosed and tough football,” he added.

And the guy he expects to take the team to that next level is Summers.

The 6-2, 215 pound quarterback, who transferred last year from Toledo, has been impressive this spring.

“Brandon gained so much from last season,” Wright said. “He grew from game to game.

“He got hurt right in the middle so that was a setback, but he came right back and picked right up where he left off and in the season final at Western Illinois he didn’t have a turnover, made good decisions and played his best game of the year.”

Wright said Summers is extremely valuable to the Penguins.

“It was the players last year, not the coaches, who voted him the team’s most valuable offensive player,” he said.

“The team knows the impact that he gives to the offense and I think Brandon is aware of this and it really showed in the offseason because he’s worked so hard to become a better player and a better leader.”

“He and I talked about this a lot in the offseason,” he added. “About him becoming a better leader, we talked about that more than we did about the fundamentals of being a better quarterback.”

Wright, now in his ninth season with the Penguins and the fourth as the defensive coordinator, is also excited about the people he has surrounding Summers on offense.

He’s got a ton of talented running backs, some good offensive linemen and some exceptional receivers.

“In the backfield I think you’ll see all of those guys playing a lot of football and at times you see more than one of them back there at the same time,” he said.

“We’ve got some good young offensive linemen,” he said. “There are three freshmen that have really been impressive, but this has been a long tough year for them and they are really working hard to get through this first spring camp.”

One key player is wide receiver Donald Jones.

Jones, a 6-2, 210 pounder with great hands and good speed, has been nursing a hamstring injury this spring and might not get into any action until fall camp.

“Donald is a very special player and he’s also another guy who just better and better as the season progressed last year,” Wright said. “We definitely need him come fall.”

The Penguins will work out Monday and then take Tuesday off as head coach Jon Heacock has juggled the practice schedule for the third time in a week. They will practice Wednesday and Thursday, take Friday off and then hold their major jersey scrimmage Saturday morning at 9:30 a.m.

mollica@vindy.com