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YSU football adds two more transfers
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Bob Casullo watches the ball after a kick by place-kicker Jake Smith.. Photo by Frank Ordo–ez /The Post-Standard
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Lynell Payne
By JOE SCALZO
YOUNGSTOWN
You know your program is going in the right direction when your transfers start to recruit more transfers.
Youngstown State picked up two more players on Monday when former Cincinnati wide receiver Lynell Payne and former Syracuse kicker/punter Jake Smith signed with the Penguins.
The sophomores are the seventh and eighth players to transfer in since the end of spring practice.
“We’ve been fortunate that guys have come over here and taken a look at our facilities and our university and they like it,” said YSU coach Eric Wolford. “Anytime we can continue to keep adding players on our roster and have the chance to have more depth, that’s a good thing.”
After redshirting the 2008 season, Payne had one catch in three games with the Bearcats last spring. The New Jersey native said his biggest recruiter was former Syracuse cornerback Grant Mayes, another N.J. native who signed with YSU last month.
“I knew him from some camps and combines and he said lots of nice things about the coaches and just kind of informed me about the opportunities there and what was happening,” said Payne. “I feel like I have a chance to play right away and I really liked the city. It gets behind football and loves football.”
Payne said he was also impressed by some of the players who were coming to the team, including former Purdue QB Najee Tyler.
“I just knew I needed a new home,” he said. “I came to YSU’s campus last week and I really liked it.”
The strong-legged Smith played one year with the Orangemen, going 2 for 2 on extra points (both against Akron) and missing a 50-yard field goal attempt against Penn State — his only attempt of the season.
He’s done both punting and kicking since seventh grade. YSU returns a good kicker in senior Stephen Blose but have a lot of question marks at punter.
“I’m going there to work and I’ll do whatever the coach wants me to do, whether it’s kickoffs or punting or kicking field goals,” said Smith, who hails from just outside Philadelphia. “I just really want to win. I don’t like losing.
“It’s not part of my makeup.”
After deciding to leave Syracuse, Smith said the recruiting process went quickly.
“I really found that coaching really matters the most and these [YSU] coaches really treat you like family,” said Smith, who also liked YSU’s business school. “They actually care about your success on and off the field.
“When I took my visit, they made me feel really comfortable.”
Like Payne, Smith didn’t know much about YSU. But after doing some research, he came away impressed with the team’s tradition and fan support.
He also had good things to say about Syracuse — both the school and the football team — but said it wasn’t the right fit for him.
“I realized it wasn’t the place I wanted to spend the four years that pretty much determine my life,” he said.
The Penguins have lost at least 15 players since spring practice and only have a few weeks remain to integrate the new transfers with Wolford’s first recruiting class. Camp starts Aug. 4 with the opener at Penn State on Sept. 4.
“We’ve got one month and we have got to become a family and a team,” Wolford said. “I have some plans to do some different things, kind of different from the norm, to get us to bond and come together.
“How we come together as a team I really believe is going to have an impact on how we do this fall.”