YSU’s Wolford ready to kick off new season

March 20, 2011 at 12:09a.m.

YOUNGSTOWN

In his first season as Youngstown State’s head football coach, Eric Wolford oversaw an offensive unit that set a bevy of records and a defensive unit that was, well, offensive.

“I don’t want to be known as a coach who’s only good on one side of the ball,” said Wolford, who has spent most of his coaching career focusing on the offensive line. “You look at Rich Rodriguez at Michigan. He had a great offense and if they’d played a little better on defense, he’d still be there.”

The Penguins begin spring practice Wednesday looking to improve a defense that struggled to hold leads down the stretch, a big reason for YSU’s 3-8 record last fall that included seven straight league losses.

Over the past few months, Wolford and his staff have watched every play from last season, trying to figure out whether the late-game problems were due to the scheme, the player or the team’s conditioning (or a combination of the three). They also went to coaching camps at Florida State, West Virginia and Houston and watched tape of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ defense.

With 24 defensive recruits coming in and the returning players entering their second year in YSU’s scheme, Wolford is confident the defense will be better this fall.

“We know we need to learn how to finish better,” he said. “If we do, we’re going to be a pretty good football team.”