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Report: YSU hires Davis to coach DBs
By Joe Scalzo
YOUNGSTOWN
The Youngstown State football team may have a new defensive backs coach next season.
According to the website FootballScoop.com, South Florida defensive quality control coach Glenn Davis accepted the job on Thursday.
YSU defensive coordinator/safeties coach Rick Kravitz spent 10 years at South Florida as the team’s assistant head coach and defensive coordinator. Penguins head coach Eric Wolford, who did not return a call seeking comment, coached the offensive line for the Bulls’ first three seasons of football, 1997-99, when Davis was a standout defensive back.
Davis, spent the past two years at South Florida, began his coaching career in 2006 as the defensive coordinator of the Birmingham Steeldogs, then had stints at Freedom High School (2007-08), Stillman College (spring, 2009) and Union Christian Prep Academy (fall, 2009).
YSU had 11 coaches on staff last season — the FCS maximum — so Davis’ hiring would mean one of Wolford’s assistants is departing. Wolford made one coaching change in his first offseason, adding tight ends coach Mauro Monz to replace departing receivers coach Phil Longo. The previous tight ends coach, Andre Coleman, then switched over to receivers last season.
Rollen Smith, who coached the cornerbacks last fall, was on campus all day Thursday, according to a source. Smith, a longtime Ursuline assistant, helped coach the defensive line in 2010, his first season with the team. He did not return a phone message.
YSU’s three top returning cornerbacks took medical redshirts last fall, forcing the Penguins to alternate between three first-year starters — including two freshmen — at the position. The Penguins gave up 206.2 passing yards per game this season, which ranked sixth in the nine-team Missouri Valley Football Conference.