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MILITARY MENTALITY
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YSU sophomore linebacker Ethan Slark balances his football career with his responsibilities with the Air Force Reserves.
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YSU sophomore linebacker Ethan Slark stays low during a drill at Wednesday’s practice at Stambaugh Stadium.
YSU sophomore Ethan Slark has more on his plate than football
By JOE SCALZO
YOUNGSTOWN
In late July, when the YSU football team held its conditioning tests to open fall practice, Penguins defensive coordinator Rick Kravitz pulled sophomore linebacker Ethan Slark aside and asked, “Are you in shape?”
Slark, a member of the Air Force reserves based in Vienna, had just spent the last three months “on orders.” (He can’t say anything more, but let’s just say he wasn’t in Vienna and his location wasn’t cold.) While there, Slark would do 100-yard sprints and 3-mile runs in his boots and uniform.
So, yeah, he was in shape.
“I said yeah,” Slark said. “He was like, ‘Are you sure?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m good. I’m good to go.’”
To pass the test, Slark started at the goal line, ran 5 yards and back, then 10 yards and back, then 15 yards and back. He had to do it in 14 seconds. Then he got a 28-second break. Then he had to do it again — 19 times.
Some of the Penguins who had spent the summer training in Youngstown didn’t pass. Slark did.
“I think a lot of the training you have to endure and the mindset you have to have in the military goes hand-in-hand with football,” said Slark, who grew up in Springfield, near Dayton. “It’s more mental than anything. You keep pushing through, no matter what.”
Slark, a backup linebacker who is vying to start on special teams, comes from a military family. His grandfather was a staff sergeant in the Marines and Slark was so eager to follow in his footsteps that he skipped school the day after turning 18 and signed up.
That didn’t work out — not wanting to quit football, he had signed up to be a reserve and instead was assigned full-time duty — but he still wanted the military experience. So, in July of 2008, his mom recommended he talk to the Air Force.
“While I was in the office talking to the Air Force recruiter, I called my [older] brother [Jonathan] who was on vacation and I was like, ‘Hey, man, do you want to join the Air Force with me?’” Slark said. “And he was like, ‘Yeah, sure.’”
He signed for six years, then went to the University of Findlay, where he redshirted on the football team. When he was assigned to the Youngstown Air Reserve Station in Vienna, he decided to walk on at YSU.
A three-sport standout at South High, Slark sat out last season after transferring and is just trying to see the field this fall.
“God’s done some great things in my life and I was definitely very fortunate to have this opportunity to play football,” said Slark. “Especially playing for a coaching staff like this. They genuinely care about us.”
Slark experienced that firsthand earlier in camp when his grandmother broke her back. He got the message from his mom on a Saturday. On Sunday, after team worship, the coaches told him to take the rest of the day to visit her, but be back on Monday morning.
“They practice what they preach, especially in terms of family first,” Slark said. “That brings us together a lot as a team.
“It’s not just empty words, there’s actually a lot of meaning behind what they say.”
YSU coach Eric Wolford is equally high on Slark, praising his attitude, commitment and effort.
“You don’t have to worry about effort with him,” Wolford said. “Football is important to him and he obviously understands, from being involved in the military, the value of leadership and he’s trained in that aspect.”
Slark has four more years in the reserves and is faced with a September 2011 deployment that he may or may not be on. His football career could end after this fall, so he’s doing his best to make the most of this season.
“I’ve been blessed to do some incredible things and see some incredible things,” he said. “I’m just going to ride this thing until the wheels fall off.”
Punting problems: YSU coach Eric Wolford has not been happy with his punters in camp, particularly with their directional punting. Sophomore kicker Jake Smith got several reps at that position in Wednesday’s practice. Smith, a transfer from Syracuse, has both a punting and placekicking background and has the strongest leg of any kicker in camp. “We’ve got to get our punting situation squared away right now,” Wolford said. “ We’re not getting the ball placed where we need it. That’s as simple as I can put it. You have a job to put the ball in a certain place on the football field, usually 37 yards away, and we haven’t been doing that.” Senior Erik Johnson, a Boardman High graduate who punted 11 times for a 33.5 yard average last fall, has been battling redshirt freshman Nick Liste (Niles) for the starting job. Ben Nowicki was the team’s punter last fall but graduated. Smith, who missed a 50-yard field goal against Penn State last year, was a first team all-conference punter in high school, averaging 41.8 yards per kick.
Morning malaise: Wolford was unhappy with his team’s effort in Wednesday’s morning session, particularly the offense. “We’re kind of at that point where we can see the end of camp, so we’re kind of looking ahead as players,” he said. “This morning we had to have a little wake-up call but I don’t anticipate that again.” He said the team is looking forward to playing someone else. “It’s time for us to hit someone else,” he said. “That’s pretty much how it is around the country.”
Scrimmage goals: YSU will hold its final scrimmage of fall camp at 4:30 p.m. Saturday as part of “Fan Appreciation Day.” Wolford said his main goal is to stay healthy. “We’re dinged up right now,” he said. “We’ve got plenty of time to recover, though. I want to see good assignment football and disciplined football.”
Looking good: Wolford’s son, Stone, was sporting a “Fear the Penguin” T-shirt at Wednesday’s practice and his daughter, Marlee, wore a bright red YSU cheerleading outfit. “That’s a good-looking girl right there,” Wolford said. “There’s a future cheerleader.”
Joe Scalzo