Strollo on NCAA committee
Youngstown State Athletic Director Ron Strollo is walking around these days as excited as a kid in a candy store.
And it really doesn’t have a lot to do with anything at the university.
Strollo was recently appointed to the NCAA Division I Football Championship Selection Committee, which deals with critical issues related to FCS, which selects and sets the participant field for the NCAA playoffs.
“It’s really important to me because I was selected to represent the Missouri Valley Football Conference by my peers,” said Strollo.
“MVFC Commissioner Patty Viverito runs a tough ship and she always lets her AD’s vote on just who will represent the conference on these NCAA committees,” he added.
Strollo begins his four-year term this fall. It runs through 2013.
“This committee will require extensive travel, especially during the playoffs as I will have to represent the committee at various contests throughout the country,” he added.
Strollo was also appointed to the NCAA Division I Football Issues Committee.
“This committee deals with all issues related to Division I football and is made up of members from both the Football Bowl Subdivision and the FCS,” he said. “This is also a four-year term and will consist of various conference calls and two in-person meetings annually.”
Strollo will also remain on the NCAA Regional Advisory Committee, which he will chair this season. This committee ranks the teams regionally for the FCS poll and he will continue on the Executive Committee of the FCS Athletic Directors Association.
“I’m going to be pretty busy this year,” he said.
Should YSU advance to the playoffs, he would likely be with the team for their games.
“If I’m not it would be because they would want me to oversee another playoff game somewhere in the country,” he said.
He won’t be at the Penguins’ season finale next season at North Dakota State.
“That’s the final weekend of games in the FCS and I’ll be with the rest of the committee setting up the final field of teams for the playoffs,” he said.
Strollo said 2009 will be the final season for a 16-team playoff field in the FCS. In 2010 that field will grow to 20 teams.
Turning to YSU, Strollo said bids are out for the new chairback seats at Stambaugh Stadium and will be in place for the start of the 2009 season.
The school has also made a down payment on a new scoreboard for the south end of the stadium, which also will be ready for this season.
“The Penguin Club is helping to pay for the new scoreboard which won’t be as elaborate as the one in the north end zone,” Strollo said. “Lots of fans who sit down near the north end zone have trouble viewing the scoreboard and this one will be for their benefit.”
The university has just completed a total renovation of the YSU football offices and also has installed a new floor in both levels of the press box.
“We’ve been blessed with a great facility; now it’s up to us to maintain it and keep it looking great,” Strollo said.
Hill happy to be back
In Friday’s Red and White Spring scrimmage game there was one player who had waited more than a year to get back into game conditions.
Redshirt freshman Taylor Hill, a Cardinal Mooney High product, hadn’t played in a game since his senior season at Mooney.
He participated in training camp at Michigan, but quit the team early in the season. He transferred to YSU this winter.
“It just felt good to be back in action,” Hill said. “Just watching football last year was really the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do.
“I’m happy to be here and our defense is looking pretty good, but there is still a lot of room for improvement.”
Hill, a 6-2, 210 pounder has worked his way into a starting linebacker position this spring with the Penguins.
“The sky is the limit with this unit,” he said.
X Pete Mollica covers YSU for The Vindicator. Write to him at mollica@vindy.com.