Posts Tagged ‘Jon Heacock’

The title Sports Information Director almost sounds like a gift job, one that a smart laborer might be able to handle.  I never knew how many things were involved in such a job until I sat down with Trevor Parks.  Parks has been at YSU for 9+ years and seems to get better at what he is doing instead of riding on the wave of things he has done.  Parks grew up in Nebraska and still likes to talk about the times he had attending Cornhusker Football games.  I recently talked with Parks about the job, the area, and the future in a very in-depth interview that revealed the best and worst of times he has endured during his tenure.

Paneech: How did you first become involved with Youngstown State?

Parks: In July of 2000, I had the opportunity to interview here.  I came in and met with Ron Strollo, Dan O’Connell and Rick Love.  They showed me around and I liked the campus alot.  They liked me, Coach Tressel liked me, and I knew the history of the program a little, but not fully until I walked through the doors.  I liked everyone here and coach called and offered me the job in August of 2000, and I have been here ever since. 

Paneech: Talk about the duties of a sports information director.

Parks: We handle the athletic department’s website which is a variety of information including press releases, game recaps, and select feature stories.  We handle statistics at all home sporting events, coordinate interviews with media to talk with selected student-athletes and coaches, and create media guides for various sports.  It’s sports information whether it is local, regional, or national to get the word out on what is going on here at YSU.

Paneech:  How much contact do you keep with other SID’s at other colleges?

Parks: Probably not as much as I think all of us would like to just because of our daily schedules.  Our organization is called CoSIDA, which is over 1500 people in our profession.  I have teleconferences with that group where we share our challenges and what we do.  E-Mail has changed things a ton.  I still try to call the SID that we play the week of a game just to touch base and say hi, but 90% of the contact I end up having is through e-mail, which is both good and bad.

Paneech: How often do you talk with Coach Heacock and does any of your work involve him?

Parks: Anywhere from five to ten times a day.  If I have to talk to him, it’s a good setup because he has to walk by our doors to go to practice so if I need him, I can grab him real quick.  It’s changed alot this year since he took over the Defensive Coordinator position.  Before, I could just walk in the door and tell him, hey I need this or that.  Now, I kind of have to work around things.  You don’t want to walk in on the defensive staff when they are putting a weekly gameplan together.  The good thing about him [Heacock] is that his door is always open for us which has been a real positive in working with him.

Paneech: What was the nicest place that YSU ever visited to play a football game?

Parks: Ohio State was gorgeous.  The good and bad about going to the big schools is that they have so many people there.  Sometimes it is nicer to go to a place like Western Illinois where the press box isn’t very big, but you can get anywhere in two minutes.  At Ohio State, it’s going to take you at least ten minutes to get from the press box to the field if you are lucky.  The nicest place I actually remember was McNeese State.  If we ever had to do a redesign here, I would call them up.  Cal-Poly was different, it was kind of a scaffold with a tarp over it but it was unique because the mountains were right there, it was neat.

Paneech:  What was one of the worst places YSU ever went to play a football game?

Parks: I don’t want to say anything bad about anybody.  One of the most interesting places we went for football was Richmond when we went there for the playoffs.  That was the year we were 9-2, and we have this nice place here.  They were 9-2 and we ended up going there.  Their stadium was on like an old horse track or whatever it used to be.  The press box was fogging up during the game and the weather was miserable and we lost 10-3.  It just made you wonder, why aren’t we hosting this at our place?  They won the National Championship last year, so hats off to them.  Another interesting place was Chicago State because it was in not one of the nicer parts of Chicago so you had to be careful about getting there, and you saw doors with chains on them, the toilet paper there was chained down in the men’s stalls.  Those are probably two of the more interesting places we have been.

Paneech: How big of a transition did you undergo in relocating to Youngstown from Nebraska?

Parks: I was at Chattanooga before I got here.  Going from Lincoln to Chattanooga was a culture shock and a half.  The people there were great.  It was my first time away from home and I’m glad I went there before I got here because I’m not sure what it would have been like to go from Nebraska to here.  I got to spread my wings a little at Chattanooga, but I had to adjust to the weather, and it was just a different vibe.  Coming here was like coming home in alot of ways.  The weather here is the same [as Nebraska weather], you get storms, snow and cold, I already was used to driving in Winter weather.  If I ever get bored I can hop on I-80 West and drive straight for 950 miles to get home.

Paneech: Describe a typical day at work from start to finish.

Parks:  There really isn’t a typical day.  You can write down a thousand things on paper and hope to get as many done as you can.  You never know when somebody is going to call and need something.  If we have a basketball game on a Thursday night, you get here at about nine-o’clock in the morning but your not getting out of here until ten p.m., a thirteen hour ordeal.  In the Summer, you get here at about 8:30 a.m. and you are out of here at five, so it’s not too bad.  You need that energy for the Fall and Winter when there are events scheduled.  We work alot of weekends, so you try to get as much done as you can during the week. 

Paneech:  Tell me about the worst day, a nightmare day, that you have had here.

Parks: There have been a few of those.  One was when I almost quit.  We played Valpo in basketball and it was a great thing, and then Coach Robick freaked out after the game about some stuff, I was at my wit’s end and wrote a letter of resignation up.  I had only been working here for like eight months, so it is now one of those deals that you look back and laugh about.  When Shawn [Coin] died, it was by far one of the worst days here.  I walked in that morning with him, I walked down the hallway and he said he wasn’t feeling good, and two hours later he had a heart attack and shortly after that they said he was gone.  When I was dating my wife, I got a call here from her saying that her father wasn’t doing too well.  That situation was tough because he volunteered here [YSU] for years and was really well-liked.  Everyone was hurting when Shawn died, everyone was hurting when Mr. Strollo died.  (* Shawn Coin was a video coordinator at YSU who was 31 when he suffered a fatal heart-attack.  He died on August 18, 2008.  He and his wife Jennifer were expecting their first child in April of 2009.)

Paneech:  Will Youngstown State ever consider a jump to Division 1-A for football?

Parks: You look at what a school like Boise State has done.  We beat them in 1994 and now they are in the Top-5 of the BCS Schools.  The struggles with finances create problems.  The guys from Western Illinois said our facilities were nicer than Northern Illinois, so we obviously have a nice facility.  You also look at jumping from 63 scholarships you can split up to 85 full-boar scholarships.  I think after seeing football here for 10 years, its pretty darn good, but I think we are where we need to be.  It will be interesting to see what happens next year when a new president comes on and what direction things will go.

One Word Answers

Favorite Magazine:  Hockey News.

Best Stock You Ever Owned:  I’ve never dabbled in the stock market.

Pellini or Stoops:  Pellini.

If You Could Add A Color To YSU’s Red And Black, What Would It Be?  I have always liked teal, but I don’t see how it would work.

Favorite YSU Player of All-Time:  Kyle Smith.

The Indians Should Hire ____ To Run The Team:  Mike Florak.

Golf Club I Hit The Best:  8-iron.

One Word To Describe Donald Jones:  Amazing.

Best CD/Album Ever Made:  Michael Jackson’s Thriller.    Milli Vanilli.

Favorite Non-Sports Activity:  Walking the dog with my wife.

Favorite Holiday: 4th of July.

Howard Stern or Rush Limbaugh:  Neither.

Youngstown State (3-2, 1-1) hosts Western Illinois (1-3, 0-1) in an almost must-win game for both teams this Saturday.  The Missouri Valley Football Conference seems balanced with an exception at the bottom (Indiana State), and a couple of great teams so far (S. Illinois, N. Iowa) at the top.  All of the teams in the middle of the MVC could end up beating each other up all year.  With one loss each, either team could still win the conference championship if they run the table. 

Youngstown State lost to Missouri State, 17-7, in a game that was decided by big plays and bigger miscues.  To drive for 16 plays and 90 yards and come away with no points can be disheartening to a team like Youngstown State.  The game could have easily been won by ten points minus three mistakes.  Those three mistakes were a high snap on a field goal attempt that prevented YSU kicker Stephen Blose to have a clean attempt, converting on fourth-and-inches on Missouri State’s five yard line, and controlling turnovers.  There are not many teams who can overcome four turnovers, a blocked field goal, and getting stuffed deep in the opponents red zone who would only lose by ten points.  I guess that is the best way to take a positive out of last week’s game.

Western Illinois lost to Southern Illinois, 30-10, last week.  When WIU scored a TD in the second quarter, they cut the SIU lead to 14-10, but would get no closer as the Salukis rattled off three field goals and a touchdown to seal a victory.  The Leathernecks have a legitimate deep-threat wide receiver in Lito Senatus.  Senatus caught six passes for 45 yards against Southern, but more impressively, has 30 catches for 435 yards in four games.  Western Illinois will try to run the ball with traditional power formations, a trademark of their teams for years.  However, they will throw a three receiver set in from time-to-time, something new and not seen frequently in the past.

Youngstown State has won the last 5 games against Western Illinois, with four of those contests being decided by seven points or less.  This weeks game marks the 25th meeting between the two schools with YSU victorious 14 times and WIU the winner 10 times.  Last year, YSU won a hard fought 31-28 game in Macomb to end the season.

Coach Jon Heacock looks for his team to roar back coming off of last weeks loss.  “We played outstanding at times.  We had a goal-line stand.  We drive it sixteen plays, and it ends with a turnover.  We went into the game leading the conference in turnover margin.  We turned the ball over 4 times and no longer lead the conference but have slipped down to fourth or fifth.”

Senior WR Aaron Pitts commented on the loss.  “We are definitely upset and embarrassed with our performance Saturday.  We really want to come back strong and get the next one.” 

Senior DL Crispin Fernandez alerted the media that the team is not looking back, but rather ahead.  “We seemed ready.  We did the same things we usually do to get ready.  We were not able to get pressure on the QB because they were picking up our twists and stunts.  We can get to the quarterback this week if we prepare right.”

Penguin Notes

• Senior WR Donald Jones played well in the loss as he tied a school record by having 11 catches in a game.  I sat next to a Philadelphia Eagles scout who was impressed with the effort Jones provided.
• YSU has lost seven consecutive games in October dating back to the 2007 season.
• Youngstown State has 8 interceptions in five games.  Last season they only had 12 in 12 games.
• Eric Rodemoyer has received the Penguins’ Offensive Lineman of The Game award in all four of his starts.  Rodemoyer is a transfer from West Virginia.
• Dominique Barnes is averaging 12.4 yards per catch, best on the team with 5 or more catches.

About the only cooperative factor in Saturdays Youngstown State football game was the weather.  The Penguins (3-2, 1-1) shot themselves in the foot several times and ultimately lost, 17-7, to Missouri State (3-2, 1-1).  Missed opportunities proved to be the difference in the game.  A blocked field goal, a failed 4th-and-1 on the Bears 5-yard line, and three uncharacteristic Brandon Summers interceptions proved to spell the fate of YSU in the loss.

The Missouri State offense didn’t take very long to get on the board.  All-American Tight End Clay Harbor hauled in a 52-yard touchdown pass from Cody Kirby to put the Bears up 7-0.  The drive, which only consisted of four plays, covered 64 yards in 1:26 with the big blow of 52 yards.  Sir Demarco Bledsoe almost knocked the pass down but missed on his swat.

After YSU went three-and-out, the Bears struck again, but this time only got three to extend the lead to 10-0 with 6:57 left in the first.  On the drive, Kirby found Jonathan Davis for a 57-yard completion.  Matt Hottelman connected from 25 for the three-pointer.  YSU dodged a bullet as Missouri State had the ball 2nd and goal on the YSU one, but were unable to convert.

YSU took the next kickoff all the way out to their own 49.  Brandon Summers went to work with a 25-yard gainer to Dominique Barnes, a 16-yarder to Donald Jones, and another 10-yarder to Barnes.  After a couple of runs and a penalty, YSU had a 4th and less-than-one at Missouri State’s five-yard line.  Summers tried to sneak for the needed yardage for a new set of downs but was stuffed and YSU turned the ball over on downs.  Missouri State took over on downs and ran a few plays before the first quarter ended with YSU trailing 10-0.

YSU got on the board with 3:34 left in the second quarter when Summers found Donald Jones for a 32-yard touchdown.  Dana Brown had 4 rushes for 23 yards on the 11 play drive that covered a total of 76 yards.  On the TD, Summers had all day and Jones kept running until Summers found him in the corner for a great hookup to make the score 10-7 in favor of Missouri State.

With Missouri State driving and under a minute to go in the half, Lenny Wicks made a remarkable one handed jumping interception to keep the Bears out of the end zone and the half ended with Missouri State leading Youngstown State 10-7.

Youngstown State took the second half kickoff.  Kevin Smith coughed up the ball and it would be costly as Missouri State drove 36 yards in seven plays and would cash in on a 4-yard jaunt from Jonathan Davis to take a 17-7 lead with 11:36 left in the third quarter.

YSU moved the ball somewhat effectively on their next drive.  The drive was ended when Stephen Blose attempted a 37-yard field goal which was blocked by Waylon Richardet to give Missouri State the ball back on their own 35.  Richardet was dominant on defense all day for the Bears.

The third quarter ended with Missouri State on top 17-7.

Richardet stopped another YSU drive single-handedly when he picked off a tipped Summers pass.  YSU was in a third-and-goal at Missouri State’s 4-yard line when Summers threw his third pick of the evening.  This drive, the third of its kind in the game, covered 90 yards and resulted in nothing on the scoreboard for the Penguins. 

YSU could not stop Missouri State after the turnover.  The Bears were obviously trying to run some of the clock down, and YSU would give up a couple of yards on runs, yet the Bears converted twice on third-and long situations to take more than 5 minutes off of the game clock.  The Penguins finally successfully stopped the Bears and got the ball back with 2:24 left in the game and no timeouts.

The Penguins were unable to score and could not convert when they had to in this game.  A blocked field goal, three interceptions and a failed fourth and inches in the first quarter ultimately spelled doom for YSU as they fell 17-7 to the Bears.

For the Penguins, Kevin Smith rushed for 80 yards on 16 carries.  Dana Brown added 72 yards in 15 carries.  Donald Jones tied a school record with 11 catches for 130 yards and a TD.  Dominique Barnes had 9 catches for 113 yards and finished the game with 169 all-purpose yards.  Summers finished 23 of 39 for 251 yards, a touchdown, and the three interceptions.

Missouri State was led by QB Cody Kirby who finished the game 19-28 for 252 yards with a TD and a pick.  Clay Harbor had 6 catches for 106 yards.  Jonathan Davis finished with 118 all-purpose yards.

After the game, a very disappointed Jon Heacock addressed the loss.  “Missouri State came in and played hard.  They played like their life was on the line, give them credit, they played like crazy.  They were able to pressure us with three and four guys and we were not able to pressure them when we were sending six.”

Heacock also commented on the team being able to bounce back next week.  “If they have got any courage and competitiveness, they’ll be up.  I think our team does.  It’s not going to be easy.  We better buckle up.  If they have any red blood cells they’ll be competitive.”

Mychal Savage addressed the media after the game and took the loss particularly hard.  Having interviewed Savage this past week, I got a vibe that he is the pulse of this defense, the leader.  “I personally feel like tonight I let my team down.  I feel like I owe these guys one and that they deserve more from me.  I feel like I could have did more for this team, and I didn’t do it.”   This particular statement was delivered from the heart and I really feel for Savage.  He is putting way too much blame on himself though.  It is just his nature to assume responsibility for his group during a bad time, the mark of a true leader.  Mad respect for him.

YSU goes back to work in preparation for their Missouri Valley Conference game against Western Illinois Saturday.  The game is set for a 6:00 kickoff.

The Youngstown State University Penguins (3-1) are just starting to scrape the surface of how good they can become this season.  The defense pitched a 28-0 shutout at Indiana State last week and the offense (especially the seniors) played when they had to.  Next up on the Penguin agenda is Missouri State (2-2).

Missouri State has lost to a couple of great teams.  The Bears lost at Arkansas in their opener by the score of 48-10.  They then won two in a row with victories over UT Martin (24-14) and Murray State (35-10).  Last week MSU lost to powerhouse Northern Iowa, 35-7. 

Missouri State has a weapon and a half in TE Clay Harbor.  The 6’4″, 243 lb. senior is an All-American.  YSU Coach Jon Heacock commented on Harbor saying, “Their tight end [Harbor] is a really special athlete.  He blocks like a tight end but runs like a wideout”.   In the Bears four games, Harbor has 16 catches for 149 yards.  Dual-threat QB Cody Kirby has thrown to 13 different receivers this season.  “With their QB [Kirby], a play is never dead.  You have to maintain coverage and contain or he can beat you”, said Heacock of Kirby.

Missouri State LB Antoine Wilkinson is the heart of a 3-4 defense that likes to blitz.  The other three linebackers employed in the scheme (Adam Beauchamp, Terian Washington, and Michael Keck) seem to be anywhere Wilkinson isn’t.  Heacock compared the 30 front to that of Southern Illinois and said it is a complicated defense to face because of the many looks a team can show.

YSU enters the game on a three-win roll.  Three of the next four games are at home and the schedule has been set up beautifully to assist the Penguins inexperience issues as well as getting healthy.  Defensive standouts Crispin Fernandez, Lenny Wicks, and Sir Demarco Bledsoe have not started a game together yet this season.  All three will start against the Bears this week.  If the defense can play like they did last week with their best unit on the field, it could be a very long day for Missouri State’s offense.

Senior TB Dana Brown (pictured) spoke about the offense coming out ready this week.  “We have had a tendency to come out flat.  We need to work on that this week.  This is a must-win game for them because they already have a conference loss.  We expect them to play their A-game with their backs against the wall, so we have to be ready.”

Youngstown State is 6-0 at home against Missouri State and have scored 30 points in five of the six wins.  The Bears won last year 42-28 in Springfield.  Missouri State Head Coach Terry Allen has a career record of 109-82 and will surely have his team ready on Saturday.

Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. and the game will be played under cloudy skies with a good chance of rain and temperatures expected to dip into the low 50’s.

Penguin Notes

• Stephen Blose missed two field goals against Indiana State.  Coach Heacock said, “You can’t start messing with mechanics of kickers and punters.  He just missed both tries and kicked the ball right where he was aiming.”
• Sir Demarco Bledsoe leads Youngstown State with 24 unassisted tackles and played only sparingly last week.
• Punter Ben Nowicki had a 67-yard punt last week, a career best.
• YSU has not lost a fumble yet this season.
• Dominique Barnes is the last Penguin to return a kickoff for a touchdown.  Barnes accomplished the fete in 2007 against Missouri State.

These are the games that Division 1-AA players have dreamt of playing for years.  They are David’s shot at Goliath and they are taking place in many stadiums this week.  For Youngstown State, it is their fifth chance at an FBS school in the past five seasons.  The past four efforts have not yielded a touchdown, a monkey the Penguins hoped to get off of their backs this year.

Unfortunately, YSU failed to score a touchdown against a very talented defense in losing to Pitt, 38-3.  At times, YSU showed their potential, and even won the time of possession battle for the game.  Sadly, the winner of a football game doesn’t always have the ball the longest. 

Don’t think less of Youngstown State because of this score.  I can almost guarantee Pitt will beat at least one Big East opponent worse than they did YSU.  The showing for Youngstown State was gutty and heartfelt, but was marred with mistakes and penalties at the most inopportune times.  This team from Youngstown showed alot of fight against a Division-1 favorite to win a conference and perhaps compete in a BCS game.

YSU had the ball first and went three and out.  Pitt took the ball, got a first down, and then was forced to punt.  A good Pitt punt pinned the Penguins on their own 10-yard line where they started their second possession.  The Pitt defense stiffened up and drove YSU back four yards before they were forced to punt.

With great field position on the YSU 41-yard line, Pitt went on the attack with 9:17 remaining in the 1st quarter.  In four plays, Pitt got on the scoreboard when true Freshman Dion Lewis scampered 16 yards for a Pitt score to make it 7-0. 

YSU showed some offensive prowess and ate up the rest of the first quarter with the drive yielding a 48-yard Stephen Blose field goal to make it 7-3 in favor of Pitt with 14:04 left in the second quarter.

Pitt wasted no time responding as Dion Lewis had four carries for 58 yards in a five-play drive accented by his 1-yard TD run with 11:23 left in the half to make the score Pitt 14, YSU 3. 

Pitt went up 21-3 with 1:05 left in the half.  The 8-play, 61-yard drive took 3:08 and ended with Lewis catching a flare pass from QB Bill Stull for a three-yard touchdown.  On the drive, Lewis carried the ball 6 times for 42 more yards.  Lewis carried the ball 15 times for 135 yards in the first half.

Pitt got the ball to start the second half.  QB Bill Stull was picked off by YSU’s Brandon Ross.  After an illegal block on the return, YSU took the ball on their own 39 but could not move the ball and was forced to punt.

After an exchange of punts, Tino Sunseri entered the game as Pitt’s QB.  Sunseri hooked up with Jonathan Baldwin for a 42-yard completion giving Pitt a first-and-goal at the YSU 9-yard line.  The YSU defense held Pitt out of the end zone and forced the Panthers to settle on a 26-yard field goal by Dan Hutchens to extend the Pitt lead to 24-3.

With 24 seconds left in the third quarter, Stull found Dorin Dickerson for a 13-yard TD pass to bolster the Pitt lead to 31-3.  The score capped off a 63-yard drive.  On the first play after the kickoff, YSU QB Brandon Summers was intercepted giving Pitt the ball on YSU’s 35-yard line.  The third quarter came to a close with Pitt ahead by 28 points and threatening to increase the margin with the ball on YSU’s 33.

On third down and 5 yards to go at the YSU 6-yard line, Sunseri found Andre Wright for a touchdown pushing the Pitt lead to 38-3 with 12:05 remaining in the game. 

YSU drove and had the ball for 8:31 but failed to convert the effort into any points as Summers was picked off in the end zone.  Pitt took the ball and basically ran out the clock to end the contest at 38-3.

After the game, Coach Heacock gave his impressions of his teams efforts.  “That team [Pitt] is pretty good and there is a reason they are picked to win the Big East Championship.  I don’t know if we did enough good things to win a game.   We have got to do things to win football games, and I’m not just talking about Pitt.  You have to line up right and do the little things.”

YSU was flagged for nine penalties, to which Heacock referred to as “ridiculous”, stressing how dificult it is to win when you keep digging holes to fall into.

For the Penguins, Kevin Smith carried the ball 17 times for 52 yards.  QB Brandon Summers finished 11 for 22 passing for 113 yards and was sacked six times.  Donald Jones led Penguin receivers with 4 catches for 34 yards.  Sir Demarco Bledsoe recorded 9 tackles, one for a loss.

Pitt Freshman Dion Lewis had 20 carries for 137 yards and 2 TD’s.  QB Bill Stull was 11-16 for 123 yards with 2 TD’s and an interception.  Dorin Dickerson caught 4 passes for 26 yards and had one TD.

YSU will try to regroup and set their attention to Austin Peay in next week’s home opener.

The 2008 season was a disappointing one for the Youngstown State University Penguins and Head Coach Jon Heacock.  Heacock has assumed the duties of defensive coordinator, the position he held under Jim Tressel in the 90’s,  for the 2009 season.  I recently caught up with Coach Heacock and talked about what we can expect to see from YSU this Fall.  He also discussed the importance of playing a big team like Pitt every year and what it does to a program.

In the sweltering August heat, I watched an enthusiastic bunch of players practice.  Many of those players were around last year and tasted some success late in the season.  To my surprise, practice was upbeat.  Crowd noise was piped over the PA system, and array of songs ranging from “We Built This City” to “Back In Black” played during the practice.  YSU is getting ready to face a new challenge, a new day.  September 5th, the Penguins travel to Pittsburgh to face the tough Panthers.

I asked Coach Heacock if he had high expectations for the season.  “The expectations are high, they are always high.  The standards here are high and in turn, that makes the expectations high.  Aim for the moon and if you hit a star that’s good, we are aiming for the moon.”

I asked Coach Heacock about the enthusiasm level to which he replied, “I think this group has worked hard, they had a long season a year ago and they are working hard.  We are not a very veteran team, so there is alot of competition going on, that obviously contributes to some of the enthusiasm.”

This YSU team has only 12 seniors.  Heacock commented on the importance of thir leadership, “There are only twelve of them so there is nowhere to hide, it is critical that they play well.  It’s like I tell them all the time, there are no mulligans when you are a senior, you get one shot at it and they have done a good job so far.”

We then started talking about whether or not it makes sense to play teams like Pitt or Ohio State, sometimes referred to as ‘money beatings’.  I asked Coach Heacock if he was in favor of these type of games, and whether or not the big check is worth risking a demoralizing loss or injury.  Heacock replied with, “There’s alot of different thoughts in that process.  One, we do get a substantial check, and obviously that’s part of the reason we are doing it.  It [the money] supports all of our athletic programs, it helps track, helps soccer, helps volleyball, and so we are contributing to that.  On the selfish side, it forces our players to get ready to play a strong football team early in the season.  I think it has motivated our practices, so I look at it is getting us ready to play the rest of the season.  I don’t think that I, or any of the players, ever go into one of those games expecting to lose.  There is alot of different philosophies there, I understand some of it and some of that is true.  I think it’s a great challenge for us because I think it helps us judge where we are as a football team.”

Coach Heacock says he wants this to be a team that takes care of the football and minimizes turnovers this season.  He also said there are accountability drills for those who do cough up the ball, but ther are also rewards for those who protect it.  Heacock made refrnce to the 1991 season saying that in YSU’s first seven games, the turnover margin was +0.43 and the record was 4-3.  Winning their last eight games, the turnover margin was +1.75.

Heacock knows Northern Iowa and Southern Illinois will be tough opponents but says every game is important and that is how 2009 will be handled, one game at a time.

Youngstown State Football enjoyed a wealth of success under Jim Tressel in the 1990’s.  Jon Heacock has had the toughest task ever assigned on Wick Avenue, to keep what Tressel started rolling.  Heacock has had his ups and downs as the head guy and I feel he is headed toward greener pastures in the next couple of seasons.

If you sit back and think of what Tressel started at YSU, you can understand the enormous pressure Heacock has had to perform under.  Also, figure in Tressel only a few hours away recruiting the prime local talent to play for The Buckeyes.  Heacock is a good recruiter and people should be suprised with the talent he pulled this offseason.  The annual Spring game is Friday and Heacock is anxious to see some of those recruits in action.  Mychal Savage, sidelined all of last year after being injured in the Ohio State opener will be a force to be reckoned with on defense this year.  He will not be participating in Spring activities as he is still recovering from surgery but he should be ready for the season.

YSU suffered a bunch of season-ending surgeries last year, and all of the returning Penguins hope to stay healthy.  Playing Ohio State in the first week can make that a difficult task.

I am really pulling for Coach Heacock to succeed and prove to skeptics in the valley that YSU football is going to be just fine.  Tressel remains one of Heacock’s biggest fans and supporters.  I really like the local flavor Heacock has added to the coaching staff with Jerry Olsavsky and Michael Zordich.  Having coaches who know what it takes gives the players the right frame of mind to perform better.