‘Critical’ spring drills start for YSU

By JOE SCALZO

scalzo@vindy.com

Youngstown

New YSU football coach Eric Wolford and his staff would like to run an up-tempo spread offense that balances the run and the pass, along with an aggressive, blitz-heavy defense.

It just might not happen right away.

The Penguins begin spring practice today with question marks on both sides of the ball. Wolford called the 15 practices critical, both for implementing his system and finding the team’s strengths and weaknesses.

“I think it’s important to find out exactly what you can do and, more importantly, what you can do well,” he said. “I think sometimes coaches maybe are … stubborn and think you have to run this specific offensive system and maybe your personnel doesn’t fit that. Same with defense.

“And we’ve seen that at major colleges across the country, where you go in and try to run that system and you don’t have the personnel to run that system exactly the way you want to run it.”

On paper, the team’s biggest strengths are at linebacker and offensive line, while the biggest weaknesses are at quarterback and special teams.

Only one player has any college experience at quarterback — junior Marc Kanetsky, who started the last game of the season but has thrown just 15 passes in his career. Add in two redshirt freshmen and a true freshman and it’s little wonder Wolford has tempered expectations for the position.

“We’re finding out what we have at quarterback, what we can do,” he said. “If we don’t feel like we have a guy we’re comfortable with because, then we have to [focus on] managing the game and playing great defense and great special teams.”

Special teams was a weakness last season and, to rectify that, Wolford plans to play starters on special teams this fall. He also may shift players to different positions in order to get the best 11 players on the field.

Every practice will end with a competitive situation, whether it’s a first-and-goal at the 3, a two-minute offense drill or a third-and-7.

“I want to see how we’re going to handle adversity, when our backs are against the wall,” he said. “When adversity sets in, are we going to be a team that says, ‘Here we go again’ and have a losing-type attitude, or are we going to be like, ‘This is another part of a football game’?”

Wolford knows he won’t accomplish everything in the first 15 practices but he’s looking forward to seeing which of his workout warriors will look good in pads.

“A lot of guys look good when they’re running around shorts and T-shirts,” he said. “You can get excited about certain guys and then all the sudden you put the pads on and they won’t hit anybody.

“That’s what we’ve got to find out. We’ve got to find out who wants to come up and strike somebody, who’s going to rise up and compete.”