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Penguins boasting 29 locals
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Taylor Hill at football photo day at YSU.
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Giard High School quarterback Kyle Stadelmyer scrambles during an October 23, 2008 game with Liberty . William D. Lewis/ The Vindicator
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FISTFUL OF 4: Fitch running back Sylvestry Gibbs (4) tries to break free from the grasp of East defenders Michael Thomas (12) as Eric Taylor (59) gives chase during Friday's game at Fitch High Stadium. The Falcons won 49-12.
If there has been one area that Youngstown State football coach Jon Heacock has been criticized for over the years, it’s been that he hasn’t brought enough local talent to the Penguins’ program.
It’s true that Heacock and his staff have probably averaged only five or six local scholarship recruits over the nine seasons he’s been at the helm. But counting the number of local scholarships and the number of local football players on the roster is an entirely different matter.
This year alone, Heacock and his staff have 29 players from an area that encompasses Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties in Ohio and Lawrence and Mercer counties in Pennsylvania.
Yes, less than half of those players are on full scholarships with the Penguins. But the job of enticing the ones who are not on scholarship might just be more of an accomplishment for the staff.
You don’t have to even ask Heacock as he’ll be the first to tell you that the Penguins are always on the lookout for local talent — full scholarships, partial scholarships, preferred walk-ons or just walk-ons.
Twenty-nine is a pretty solid number for this valley. That number could be 32 but three local players have decided to leave the program. Two of them were freshmen recruits that Heacock really liked.
Losing local players is a big disappointment to the coach, who is a native of this valley himself, having grown up in Beloit and playing high school ball at West Branch.
“It bothers me when kids just give up without giving themselves a chance,” Heacock said in reference to freshmen Kyle Stadelmyer of Girard and Sylvestry Gibbs of Austintown Fitch, who both left before camp was over.
The other player to leave might have been even more of a surprise. Senior Ty Campana of Struthers left in the first week of camp.
Campana had put in three solid years with the team. Although he was never going to be a starter with the Penguins, he would have seen action both at wide receiver and on special teams.
Regardless of what people think, the Penguins are not going to get every Division I prospect from the area. But sometimes it works out. Take the case of Cardinal Mooney’s Taylor Hill who was recruited to play at Michigan, but never felt comfortable there and came back home without ever stepping on the field at Ann Arbor.
It’s happened before like with P.J. Mays, Chris Sammarone and Jim Zdelar, to name a few.
In addition to Hill in this year’s group, there are several others who started out elsewhere before deciding to come back home and play.
Senior Brian Mellott of Fitch (Ohio) and junior Eric Rodemoyer of Kennedy Catholic (West Virginia) came back to play here and are happy they made that decision.
A lot of these kids grew up watching the Penguins play and now want to be a part of that great tradition. Hopefully, there will be a few more coming back home.
The season opener is less than a week away and there will be several preview shows this week.
Tonight will be the first “Penguin Playbook” show on WKBN-AM 570 from 7-8 p.m. at O’Charley’s in Boardman. Heacock and Bob Hannon will discuss Saturday’s game against the University of Pittsburgh and the upcoming season.
On Wednesday, live from the Canfield Fair, the first “Penguin Gameday” show will air at 7:30 p.m. on WFMJ Channel 21 with Heacock and Dana Balash.
On Thursday from 6-7 p.m. will be a WKBN special show, “Penguin Preview.” WKBN sports director Jim Campbell will sit down with YSU Athletic Director Ron Strollo to talk about the new school year and what he expects from the Penguins. Fans can, in essence, find out the state of YSU Athletics. They’ll also be taking phone calls regarding the new indoor facility, upcoming schedules or whatever anybody wants to discuss.
It will all lead up to Saturday’s season opening football game when the Penguins travel to meet the University of Pittsburgh at 1 p.m. at Heinz Field.
XPete Mollica covers YSU sports for The Vindicator. E-mail him at mollica@vindy.com.