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YSU’s Disher gets new lease on life under Pelini
By Joe Scalzo
YOUNGSTOWN
One of Bo Pelini’s goals this spring is to give some of Youngstown State’s players a new lease on life.
Enter Kintrell Disher.
Two years ago, Disher was a junior wide receiver-turned-tight end showing promise in his first season at a new position. Then, in a Week 5 game at Southern Illinois, he tore his ACL and meniscus.
“It was really frustrating,” said Disher, who stands 6-foot-4 and weighed about 250 pounds at his peak. “I felt like it was going to be a great year and I had put in a lot of work. The coaching staff was working me in and I just had a setback.”
He sat out last spring, then looked rusty and tentative in training camp, prompting former head coach Eric Wolford to redshirt him. By the end of the season, most people — including Disher — thought his college career was over. But when YSU hired Pelini to replace Wolford, Disher reconsidered.
“It [Pelini’s hiring] affected my decision a lot,” Disher said. “I asked other guys about him and they said he’s a players’ coach, real down-to-earth. So I said, ‘Hey, I’ll go talk to him and give it a shot,’ and now I’m here. It was a blessing in itself.”
“He kind of got in the doghouse a little bit [last season] and he came and saw me and said he wanted to play,” Pelini said. “I said, this is what’s going to be expected of you. If you want to have an opportunity to be on this team, let’s go.’”
Disher dropped 25 pounds and Pelini moved him back to wide receiver, where he played in high school and in his first two seasons at YSU, catching 24 passes for 266 yards and two TDs. With the Penguins losing Jelani Berassa to graduation, they’re thin at the position and Disher, while rusty, has a chance to make an impact.
“The kid has some talent,” Pelini said. “He’s a guy who can put on size and maybe be an H-back guy. You can’t have enough big-body receivers.
“I’ve been pleased watching him catch the football. He’s pretty natural at it. And when you have that size, you’ve got to use that size. He’s not a guy that’s going to put his feet in the ground and make someone miss at the line of scrimmage, so you have to use that size to get separation from DBs and he’s shown he can do that.”
Disher arrived at YSU in 2011 as one of three South Carolina natives in that year’s recruiting class. Brandon Thomas has since left, but the other, wide receiver Andrew Williams, blossomed into the team’s best receiver last fall, leading the team with 54 receptions for 976 yards and six TDs. He was even better in league play, catching 47 passes for 776 yards and four TDs while developing a connection with freshman quarterback Hunter Wells.
“I don’t think he even knows right now what kind of ability he’s got,” Pelini said of Williams. “It’s gonna take some time, he’s learning, but I expect him to be a big part of the team.”
Williams (6-4, 190) knows he has room to grow — “I don’t feel like I’m perfect at anything,” he said — but made it clear that his goals haven’t changed just because there’s a new coaching staff.
“My goal is to win the national championship,” he said. “The mindset is still the same — practice one day at a time and get the job done.”
Wells still No. 1
While Pelini said he’s not worried about the depth chart yet, there isn’t a quarterback competition in his first camp.
Wells has taken the first-team reps at quarterback in the first two practices, while sophomore Ricky Davis is the backup and junior Tanner Garry (the primary holder on field goals and extra points) is No. 3.
Dante Nania, who started at the beginning of last season only to lose his job to Wells, transferred to Slippery Rock in the offseason.
“I would say that Hunter is way ahead, but he should be,” Pelini said. “He’s got the reps, he has some experience. He has a really calm demeanor about him. I really like his demeanor and the type of leadership he brings and the confidence he brings to the huddle.”
Davis played a little bit of wide receiver last season — mostly to get him on the field — but he boasts the biggest arm and the best running ability of any of the quarterbacks.
“We had a kid [Nania] leave so that gives him an opportunity,” Pelini said. “He has a big arm. He’s just got to come out and compete and get better every day.
“You’re not going to go through most seasons with one quarterback, so you have to develop a backup.”