Valley recruits still loyal to YSU

December 14, 2014 at 12:05a.m.

Jake Zinni and Zak Kennedy stick with their commitments to the Penguins.

YOUNGSTOWN

When West Branch senior Jake Zinni was deciding where to play college football, his parents and his high school coach told him, “Don’t pick a school based on a coach because he might not be there when you graduate.”

Or, in Zinni’s case, when he signs his letter of intent.

Three weeks after the Penguins fired Eric Wolford, Zinni said he will honor his verbal commitment to YSU whether the next coach is Bo Pelini or someone else.

“[Offensive line coach Carmen Bricillo] told me, and I completely agree with him, that Youngstown is a great place and there’s gonna be some good candidates because it’s a good program,” Zinni said, speaking by phone on Saturday. “I’m committed to whoever they bring in.”

The same is true of Mooney senior kicker Zak Kennedy, who will graduate next week and join the program for the spring semester. He is YSU’s only other Mahoning Valley commitment so far. Boardman linebacker Evan Croutch switched from YSU to Ohio before Wolford lost his job.

“Coach Wolford did a really great job with the program and we had a good relationship,” Kennedy said. “I was sad to see him go. It was like a second home because I could go and talk to him about anything.

“It’s been kind of crazy [the last few weeks] and I’m just ready to find out who the next coach is and develop a new relationship with him and the other coaches.”

Wolford’s assistant coaches are under contract through the end of February and have been recruiting since the end of the season. Kennedy has stayed in touch with linebackers coach Ron Stoops, a Mooney grad, and safeties coach Mike Zordich, who was an assistant coach at Mooney for several years and whose sons played for the Cardinals.

The next coach will be required to meet with Wolford’s assistants before deciding on his own staff. And while there have been online reports that Pelini will be the next coach, YSU sources said no decision has been made. The school is planning to interview another (unknown) candidate today, but a source said Pelini and Eastern Kentucky coach Dean Hood are the clear favorites. Hood is an Ashtabula native who spent seven years as Wake Forest’s defensive coordinator. He’s led EKU to three FCS playoff appearances since 2008, losing in the first round each time.

“He’s an awesome guy, an awesome coach,” said Boardman High graduate Steve Vallos, who was an offensive lineman at Wake Forest during Hood’s tenure. “He’s big on accountability within the team. He’d always say you have to give up what you want right now to get what you want down the road.

“Everyone loved him. He was a guy who you could trust to give you a straight answer. And he was just like a dad as much as a coach.”

FootballScoop.com, a website that covers coaching moves, reported on Tuesday night that Pelini was set to take the job and would be introduced on Thursday. That didn’t happen — YSU and Pelini both said it was inaccurate — but it set off a frenzy in Youngstown (and elsewhere) that has put enormous pressure on YSU to deliver Pelini or risk handicapping the next coach with the “Not Bo” label.

Zinni said he tried not to buy into the rumors — “Like anything else, you just want to find out what is really the truth” — but admitted he would love to play for Pelini.

“Playing for a guy like that would be a great honor, but I know that if it doesn’t happen, we’ll get a quality coach just like him,” he said.

Kennedy agreed.

“He’s done some really good things with Nebraska and with him being a Mooney guy, I know what he’s capable of,” Kennedy said. “He knows how to coach and he’s done it for a number of years. If he ends up being the coach, it’ll be a great asset to Youngstown.”