Porter: Pelini hiring terrific for YSU

January 11, 2015 at 12:09a.m.

ScoutingOhio.com director Mark Porter has been working with Bo Pelini for years, but like everyone else, he was curious to see how the former Nebraska coach would adapt to recruiting at an FCS school like Youngstown State.

“How do you go from these studs to recruiting kids that maybe are walk-ons at Nebraska?” Porter said. “But you know what? It was no big deal for him. That’s the first thing I realized. He’s been with the 49ers, Nebraska and a bunch of other places.

“He’s evaluated a million kids. It’s just football to him.”

Since his playing career at Ohio State ended following the 1990 season, Pelini has spent all but one season coaching in the NFL, Big Ten and the SEC. (He was a quarterbacks coach at his alma mater, Cardinal Mooney, in 1993.)

To ease the transition to the FCS, Pelini kept five coaches from Eric Wolford’s staff, including two guys he’s known for decades: Mooney graduate Ron Stoops and former Mooney assistant Mike Zordich.

“You get Zordich, Stoops and Pelini together watching film and they’re going to come out right more times than not when they’re evaluating kids,” Porter said. “I don’t say much when those guys are watching tape. I just kind of do what the site is supposed to do, which is save them time.”

YSU had about 10 verbal commitments when Eric Wolford was fired in late November and Pelini said this week he plans to honor nearly all of them. Two of those verbal commitments are from the Mahoning Valley: Mooney kicker Zak Kennedy and West Branch lineman Jacob Zinni (whose father, Tim, played for Jim Tressel at YSU in the 1990s).

Wolford earned a reputation as a relentless recruiter, someone who upgraded the YSU’s overall talent and athleticism since the Jon Heacock era, but who may have been too willing to gamble on a player with great measurables, believing he could develop into a terrific football player.

While this sometimes worked — Will Shaw, for instance, played safety and linebacker before developing into a tight end who earned invites to two NFL camps — it often left the Penguins with a glut of players who looked great in shorts and terrible in games.

“I know with Wolf, the FBS measurables had to be there,” Porter said. “Once you put yourself at that rung, it’s really tough to find guys. A lot of times you’re getting a track guy who can’t play football.

“There’s a lot of 5-foot-11 kids that are great but don’t get a chance. Or maybe they’re a step slow but they play hurt, they watch extra film, they’re tough. There’s all sorts of intangibles.”

When asked about his recruiting strategy this week, Pelini said he’s looking for “guys that are tough, that love to play football. You’ve obviously got to have talent but I’m looking for intangibles, too. Guys that are going to do things the right way and represent this community the right way.”

FCS schools will always struggle to beat the MAC for players — Boardman linebacker Evan Croutch, for instance, switched his commitment from YSU to Ohio in November — but Porter said Pelini’s background could give him an edge when it comes to high school seniors as well as junior college players and FBS transfers.

“I like Wolf but the Pelini name goes further and even Wolford would tell you that,” Porter said. “Wolford was the highest paid O-line coach in the country at one time but you have to be a nerd to know that. Pelini, Zordich and Stoops are three names that every kid knows before the call even gets there, especially in Youngstown. And once you get into that family, it’s something that can help you out for the rest of your life. I don’t know if kids are savvy enough to understand that, but some parents might be.

“And if he brings any of his kids from Nebraska, those could be the stones on the other side [of the scale]. This isn’t a 3-7 rebuild. YSU was a couple of 50-50 balls away from being a playoff team last year with a young quarterback. I think that was attractive to a guy like Bo.”

Pelini agreed. Wolford was critical of his predecessor, but Pelini has gone out of his way to praise the situation he inherited.

“I think Wolf did a good job,” Pelini said. “I don’t know exactly what it was [that kept them from making the playoffs], but they were close. Unfortunately they couldn’t win a couple there at the end.

“That’s one of the things that intrigued me about coming back, along with the president [Jim Tressel] and the athletic director [Ron Strollo]. I think they’ve done a good job with the facilities for this level and there’s a lot of good things in place.”

Ultimately, Wolford’s failures at YSU had little to do with acquiring talent and a lot to do with developing it and coaching it. By the end of his five-year tenure, it was obvious that neither the fans, nor the players, expected to win the biggest games of the season.

Porter thinks Pelini can change that.

“Pelini is a brand name and he’s been there, done that,” Porter said. “Maybe there’s more of a buy-in factor from kids, thinking, ‘We can’t let this guy down.’

“The bottom line is, Bo getting hired is the best thing that could happen to YSU football. I don’t know where he’s headed after this, but I’m sure it’s not immediate. He’s just such a shining star in this area.”