Change comes quickly

If only turning around the Cleveland Browns was as easy as the first-year high school football coaches at Liberty and Warren Harding have made it look this season.

Several different regimes have tried their luck at changing the fortunes of Cleveland’s moribund NFL franchise and another is about to get its chance with new owner Jimmy Haslam and CEO Joe Banner signing on last week.

Here’s hoping they work magic similar to that of the Leopards’ Brian Jones and the Raiders’ Steve Arnold.

Jones, a former Liberty player, took over a team that was a combined 1-19 in 2010-11 and carried a 19-game losing streak into 2012.

But the Leopards are 8-1, they’ve won seven in a row since a Week 2 loss at Niles and if they can win a regular-season finale at Champion on Friday night, they’ll make the playoffs in Division IV, Region 13.

Nobody — not even Jones and his coaching staff — expected Liberty’s program to return to prominence this soon.

A similar story has unfolded in Warren, where Arnold gave up running the Raiders’ basketball program a little less than a year ago in the hopes of stabilizing a football program some in the school district had come to describe as a “grease fire.”

Harding slipped to 2-8 last season under Rick Rios, who was hired in March 2011 after a protracted and comical search to replace the non-renewed (read: fired) D.J. Dota. By the time Rios was hired, he was left with slim pickings in the way of assistant coaches, which created a leadership vacuum.

Injuries, unrest, Rios’ marriage to a spread without a solid quarterback to run it and — of course — the losing ultimately ensured he wouldn’t be welcomed back for a second season.

Enter Arnold, who was Harding’s choice as its next coach, perhaps even before Rios had coached his last game. This time, Harding hired its new man quickly and Arnold hired a capable and experienced staff.

Fitch spoiled his football debut in Week 1, but Arnold and the Raiders have since reeled off eight consecutive victories. The last one, a 15-0 victory over Bedford on Friday night, appears to have clinched a Division I, Region 1 playoff berth.

Running back LeShun Daniels has been a force for the Raiders. He rushed for 205 yards against the Bearcats and 227 against Cleveland Heights in Week 8. Daniels — vastly under-utilized a year ago — is among the most productive rushers in the Mahoning Valley this season, with 1,227 yards and 11 touchdowns.

PENGUINS IN A FUNK

YSU’s playoff hopes took a hit Saturday when the Penguins lost for the third consecutive week, this time 38-21 at home to Southern Illinois.

YSU started 4-0, including a victory at Pittsburgh and the program’s first win over rival Northern Iowa.

But top-ranked North Dakota State dismantled YSU, 48-7, on Oct. 6 in the Fargodome and the Penguins haven’t recovered.

It hasn’t been one phase of the game, either. Offense, defense and special teams have struggled at times in the losing streak.

Maybe we overestimated how good YSU was after the win over Pitt. Maybe the Penguins’ confidence took a bigger hit than anyone thought in the loss at NDSU.

Whatever it is, YSU is running out of time to get it fixed.

Ed Puskas is sports editor at The Vindicator. Write him at epuskas@vindy.com and follow him on Twitter @edpuskas85.