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Strollo: Tressel’s background will be asset in coach search
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Youngstown State athletic director Ron Strollo listens to a question Tuesday during a news conference at Beeghly Center. YSU officially announced the firing of Penguins football coach Eric Wolford Tuesday after the news broke Monday night. Strollo took questions about the move and the start of the search for Wolford’s replacement.
By KEVIN CONNELLY
kconnelly@vindy.com
YOUNGSTOWN
Youngstown State athletic director Ron Strollo met with members of the football team Tuesday to deliver news that many had already heard the night before: Eric Wolford will not be returning as head coach next season.
While the announcement shouldn’t have come as a shock, that didn’t make it any less difficult on the players, according to Strollo.
“They took it hard,” he said at a news conference on Tuesday. “I was aware of that before the decision was made. Our kids loved playing for Eric and they loved playing for their assistant coaches, so it was a quiet group today that I spoke to.
“Quite frankly that’s what you’d want,” Strollo said. “If I went in there and said we’re making a change and I saw smiles, I’d be really worried about what we were doing here.”
The decision to fire Wolford leaves Strollo with the task of finding his third head football coach in 14 years as the university’s athletic director.
The Penguins have made the playoffs only once since former head coach — now university president — Jim Tressel left for Ohio State.
That shortcoming, ultimately, was why Strollo felt a change needed to be made.
“At the end of the day, the expectations here are the playoffs and I think it’s that simple,” he said. “We continuously talked about it and obviously Eric understood those expectations and our kids understand those expectations.
“We just weren’t able to turn the corner.”
Wolford was not made available for comment, but issued a statement through the university.
“I understand what the expectations are here at YSU, and I spent every moment in my tenure working to get the program back on solid ground,” Wolford said. “I’d like to thank our student-athletes, who made a commitment to come to YSU, as well as the community and the university for its support.
“I wish the best for our football student-athletes going forward and hope they continue to build on what we started here.”
That will be the challenge for Wolford’s replacement. Strollo said he has a list of potential candidates, but wouldn’t go into any further detail.
He did say that none of the current assistant coaches on staff will be considered for the opening and he expects to interview at least six to eight candidates.
“It’s kind of part of the business in knowing who’s out there,” Strollo said. “Those coaches might be at different places in their career from time to time, so people pop in and off those lists.
“This time [of year] your phone goes crazy and you add new names.”
While Strollo has been through a coaching search before, he’s never done so with the eyes of a four-time Division I-AA national champion peering over his shoulder. Tressel is in his fifth month serving as university president and has yet to comment on the changes happening within the football program.
And while Strolllo said he expects Tressel to have as much influence as “any other president,” he also understands Tressel’s background isn’t like those of other presidents.
“There’s no question I think he’s an asset in that sense,” Strollo said. “When we do finally get to a final pool of candidates, he’ll be someone that will be just another asset.”
Strollo laid out some of the criteria he’ll be looking for in the hire, but said “everything’s kind of on the table.” The one most-often brought up was past head coaching experience, something Wolford didn’t have on his resume when he was hired. Another was the need for Youngstown ties, which was something Strollo admitted they focused on last time around.
“More importantly than anything, it’s gotta be someone who wants this job,” he said. “Someone that wants this job, someone that is enthusiastic about being apart of not only the YSU community, but the Mahoning Valley.
“We’re going to look at experiences and there might be some that have head coaching experiences and there might be some that don’t,” Strollo said. “We’re going to have to weight those different things and figure out which is the best fit for our program.”
One thing we know the next coach will have is a roster that won’t lack playing experience. Up to eight starters could return on each side of the ball, depending on transfers and other factors that often come into play after coaching changes.
Danta Nania, who began the season as the starting quarterback and ended it as a backup, announced on his Twitter account Tuesday that he planned to transfer.
“had a blast at Youngstown State, now it’s time for me to find another home for one last go around,” Nania tweeted.
Strollo told the players when he spoke with them on Tuesday that it’s a goal of his to figure out how to feed them Thanksgiving dinner in Youngstown as opposed to them going home.
“I believe in this place,” Strollo said. “I believe we’ve put the support group around [the players] that they feel comfortable with and I believe the opportunities are here in front of them to have a great 2015 season.”