Pelini’s first recruiting class heavy on Ohio-based talent

February 5, 2015 at 12:09a.m.

YOUNGSTOWN

Youngstown State offensive line coach Carmen Bricillo has been recruiting players at Pittsburgh’s Penn Hills High for years, but when he and Bo Pelini visited linebacker Christiaan Randall-Posey this winter, he noticed something different.

“We had a one-on-one with the head coach [John Peterman] and the principal and the vice principal showed up,” Bricillo said, grinning. “I said, ‘You know, I’ve been coming here for John Peterman for about six years now and I’ve never met the principal of the school.’ And, of course, he started laughing.

“Obviously, it helps [recruiting] with Coach Pelini. Everyone knows who he is.”

But unlike his predecessor, the nationally known Pelini focused his recruiting efforts locally, with 24 of his 30 recruits hailing from Ohio or western Pennsylvania.

By contrast, Eric Wolford’s final class had more players from Florida (eight) than Ohio (seven), although his first class, in 2010, boasted 13 Ohioans out of 19 overall.

“The bulk are fairly local and they understand the tradition of Youngstown State University, what the expectations are and the standards we have,” Pelini said. “That’s not to say we’ll never go out of state, to Florida or California, because there’s a lot of good football players in those places, but we’ve got to pick when and why.

“We as a staff decided there’s a lot of good football players in this area and that’s where we want to go.”

Five recruits are from the Mahoning Valley: South Range running back Joe Alessi, Cardinal Mooney kicker Zak Kennedy, Hubbard wide receiver Isiah Scott, Springfield tight end Mark Schuler and West Branch lineman Jacob Zinni.

The 30-member class is unusually large — Wolford did sign 35 in 2011 but the other four ranged between 18-24 — as Pelini took advantage of FCS rules that allow coaches to split 63 scholarships among 85 players. FBS schools can offer 85 scholarships but are not allowed to offer partial scholarships.

YSU is losing just 11 seniors from last year’s team.

“I wanted to not only add good football players but build depth,” Pelini said. “Even though I didn’t have a lot of scholarship room, I was able to use the scholarships in creative ways. It gives us a solid foundation for the future.”

Pelini’s class didn’t just differ geographically from Wolford, it also differed philosophically. Wolford was very concerned with “measurables,” demanding that players meet a certain size and speed standard.

Pelini leans the other way.

“I’m not one that gets caught up in measurables,” he said. “At the end of the day, I want to watch the film and see what a guy does. Is he making plays?

“We did a lot of evaluation and picked the guys we thought were right for us. We didn’t get caught up in who offered them or who didn’t offer them or anything else.”

Pelini also targeted players who came from winning programs, with three players (Toledo Central Catholic WR Jermiah Braswell, Lakewood St. Edward safety Kyle Hegedus and Cincinnati La Salle CB Avery Larkin) playing for state championship teams in Ohio and another (Huber Heights Wayne WR Chad Swanson) losing in the final.

“They understand the type of commitment it takes to have success,” Pelini said. “They came from a culture where they understand what winning is.”

Pelini, who signed with Ohio State after leading Cardinal Mooney to the 1985 state championship game, acknowledged that the Youngstown-Warren area isn’t as populous — or as talent-rich — as it was 30 years ago, but “there’s still a lot of good football around here,” he said.

“When you start to add in Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, Cincinnati and western Pennsylvania, that’s a lot of good kids and a lot of good football,” he said. “That’s a tremendous advantage to me at Youngstown.”