Wolford conducts spring cleaning at YSU

On Jan. 8, just a few weeks after he was hired, YSU football coach Eric Wolford said he would make no distinction between the players he inherited from Jon Heacock and the ones he recruits.

“The big thing I want to make sure I get across to these young men is, ‘We’re in this thing together,’” he said at the time. “They’re our guys. I don’t care if you were recruited by so-and-so. You’re going to be a part of our team. Eric Wolford’s guy.”

Not all of his messages were so welcoming. Over the next few weeks, Wolford completely overhauled the coaching staff and spent the ensuing months questioning his team’s talent, work ethic and toughness.

It was, as Wolford said, a “culture change.” But after one YSU playoff berth in nine years — and a 10-13 record over the past two seasons — Wolford felt he needed to shake the program at its foundations.

Read the story in Thursday’s Vindicator.