Jaworski on Pelini: ‘Nebraska’s loss is our gain’

February 7, 2015 at 12:10a.m.

YOUNGSTOWN

Ron Jaworski doesn’t believe Nebraska was thinking straight when it decided to fire Bo Pelini.

And he’s glad.

“Nebraska’s loss is our gain,” said Jaworski, a former Youngstown State quarterback and current NFL analyst for ESPN. “He has great people skills and he’s a great motivator outside of the Xs and Os and design of how to run offenses and defenses.

“What a great attribute to have in Youngstown. The local guy comes home. It’s a great story and I think the program is going to have incredible success.”

Jaworski, who was back in Youngstown this week for the first time since 2011, said “words can’t explain what I’ve seen over the last couple days” as he toured YSU’s campus.

“The first time I set foot on this campus was 1969,” he said. “That’s [more than] 45 years ago. To see the transformation to this university is mind-boggling. I get kind of lost. The one area that stands out is Kilcawley Hall because that was my dorm when I was here. That’s about the only thing that still stands in the middle of campus.”

Jaworski spent 17 years as an NFL quarterback, including 10 with the Philadelphia Eagles, and has been with ESPN since 1990. He said he still keeps tabs on YSU, both by checking the scores (if he’s not watching on ESPN3) and by talking to his former Eagles teammate Paul McFadden, who runs the Youngstown State University Foundation.

Jaworski said the recent campus upgrades — including the WATTS and the new softball and soccer fields — go hand-in-hand with the excitement generated by hiring Jim Tressel as president and Pelini as coach.

“The good things that are happening right now at YSU are incredible,” he said. “President Tressel brought incredible energy to Youngstown State when he was coaching and now he’s done it as a president.

“I will be flat-out honest, there’s incredible buzz not only here in Youngstown but there’s a buzz about Youngstown State University because of Jim Tressel. Because of Bo Pelini. Because of the way this campus is growing and the impact it’s having from Pittsburgh to Cleveland and around the country. There is nothing but positive vibes coming out of this community.”

Youngstown State has made the FCS playoffs just once since Tressel left for Ohio State after the 2000 season. Since then, Appalachian State (which won three straight titles from 2005-07) and North Dakota State (which has won four straight titles) have emerged as dominant FCS programs.

But the FCS is still struggling to gain national attention, as evidenced by the fact that the championship game was televised at noon on a Saturday on ESPN2 even though no other college football games were being played that day.

Jaworski thinks Pelini can help change that.

“It’s great for FCS,” he said of Pelini’s hiring. “When you bring a Bo Pelini in, who’s had just unimaginable success at Nebraska, [it helps]. I don’t know what they [Nebraska] were thinking, but I’m thankful they were thinking that way to give Youngstown an opportunity to bring in one of the best collegiate coaches in America.

“He’s homegrown. He’s Youngstown. It’s very positive and that’s had a very positive impact when for an FCS school to get a guy from Nebraska.”