Canield’s Baker goes from pro to coach

September 23, 2018 at 12:09a.m.

Canfield’s Sean Baker coaching LBs at YSU

YOUNGSTOWN

After a five-year, four-team odyssey in professional football, Sean Baker is taking the next step in his career in his hometown. The Canfield graduate is in his first season as the linebackers coach with Youngstown State’s football team. He was promoted to his current role in February after making his first foray into coaching with a quality control role in 2017.

“I’ve been so grateful and appreciative of [head coach Bo Pelini] giving me the opportunity to execute what we want done around here. I never stop learning around this staff,” Baker said. “I learned a lot from [co-defensive coordinator Donald D’Alesio and Richard McNutt] and obviously coach Bo and the genius he knows. I’m like a sponge out here.”

Baker, who was a star on the 2005 Cardinals squad that lost, 31-29, to Toledo Central Catholic in the Division II state championship is applying what he’s learned from his days as an NFL journeyman to the linebacking corps at YSU (1-2).

Baker was an undrafted free agent out of Ball State in 2012 who bounced around on the practice squads of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Atlanta Falcons, Indianapolis Colts and Cleveland Browns. Some of those stints lasted for only a few days.

“It’s an old saying and it’s probably a cliche, but you just control what you can control,” Baker said. “The reps that you get, you have to make them count and you can’t let one cut here or there break you and you can’t let roster day make you.

“It’s like everyday life, you have to be consistent with what you do and your attitude.”

Baker’s longest NFL gig was with the Falcons from 2013-15. It was the only time he made the the active roster and recorded one solo and one assisted tackle — while playing defense in the Falcons’ 2014 season finale against the Carolina Panthers in a 34-3 loss.

“It was just a great experience. The experiences I had traveling and just having the opportunity to go out there and show that you belong,” Baker said. “I got through five training camps and it was more than I thought I would get, but in the back of your head, you always dream of it.”

Baker is the only full-time member of the Penguins coaching staff who has played in the NFL. Former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Mike Tomczak periodically helps the team in a volunteer capacity. Before entering the pros, Baker was a standout for Ball State and is the program’s career leader in interceptions with 18.

To D’Alesio, Baker’s experiences are exactly what the Penguins need.

“He’s great with the guys. A lot of them have aspirations to go to the next level and we’ll tell them, ‘Go talk to coach Baker,’” he said. “He’s been there. He knows what it takes. He knows the culture. He’ll throw out ideas like, ‘We did this in Atlanta.’

“He’s another young energetic guy who loves being out here and he’s doing a great job with the linebackers.”