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Tresey offers YSU lunch-pail psyche
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Tresey
By Joe Scalzo
YOUNGSTOWN
After talking about his background (blue collar Warren), his defensive emphasis (fast and physical), his frequent coaching stops (some planned, some not) and his impressions of Youngstown State University’s talent (too soon to tell), new YSU defensive coordinator Joe Tresey was asked to describe his personality.
He paused.
“Um, very uh ... kind of laid back. Peachy. Just a feel-good guy,” he said, drawing laughter from Penguins coach Eric Wolford. “You know, I think it goes back to the way we were raised.
“I grew up on Rogers Avenue in Warren, Ohio. Everybody worked at the mills, mothers were waitresses or at-home moms or worked at Packard. People punched a clock every day and went to work, man.
“I just think that’s my personality. You’re going to punch it every day and you’re going to go 100 miles an hour. That’s just the way the neighborhood was.”
Tresey said he’ll take that lunch-pail philosophy to YSU’s defense, which was a weak spot in the first two years of the Wolford era. Tresey (pronounced Tracey) expects his players to play fast and physical, understand their assignments and communicate to each other “very fast and very loud.”
“You have to play with a great motor and urgency,” said Tresey, a Warren JFK High graduate who was UCLA’s defensive coordinator last year. “I’ve been fortunate the teams that I’ve been around — South Florida, Cincinnati, Georgia Southern, Central Michigan — those kids had a lot of urgency and great motors and that gave us a chance to be very successful.
“You have a chance if you’re urgent and your motor is running. I don’t care whether you’re not as athletic as he is, you have a chance. Because that makes your attitude and your demeanor and your mental frame that much stronger. It can overcome lack of athleticism sometimes.”
Wolford, a former collegiate offensive lineman and line coach, has had terrific offenses in his first two seasons but said he believes championships are won with defense and that YSU’s defense needed to get better.
“I think this guy [Tresey] brings something to the table that we haven’t had as far as passion and intensity,” said Wolford, who also praised Tresey’s teaching ability. “At the end of the day, we just needed a change in leadership.
“Those are always difficult decisions that have to be made but I think we have an obligation to this university, to this program, to the tradition here.
“We’ve got to do some things a little bit better. A little more attention to detail. Play with some passion. Be a little bit more accountable.”
Tresey’s defenses are known for their aggressive style, with a focus on forcing turnovers and negative plays. Wolford said Tresey will add more creative stunts and movements along the line and more creative secondary coverages.
“I see a lot better plan as far as line movements and stunts based on the coverages you play,” Wolford said. “I’ve been to a lot of places. I haven’t seen that attention to detail [before].”
Tresey has spent four of the last five years as a defensive coordinator at the BCS level: UCLA (2011), South Florida (2009), Cincinnati (2007-08). He coached defensive backs for the Omaha Nighthawks of the United Football League in 2010.
When asked about making eight stops in the last decade, Tresey admitted some were by choice and some weren’t. He coached under Brian Kelly (now at Notre Dame) at Central Michigan and Cincinnati from 2006-08 and lost his job at South Florida and UCLA after head coaches Jim Leavitt and Rick Neuheisel were fired.
While he said he’s enjoyed the journey — “I wouldn’t trade it for anything” — he and his wife (a Columbus native) are ready to stay in one place.
“Wherever you’re at, you make it the best play you’ve been,” he said.