By Joe Scalzo
scalzo@vindy.com
YOUNGSTOWN
Mark Pratt spent two years playing football at a junior college in Utah where, he said, “there’s more turkeys and sheep than people.”
In between, he spent two years working as a Mormon missionary to Birmingham, Ala., where he spent all day knocking on doors in Hispanic neighborhoods. He was allowed to write home on Wednesdays (handwritten letters or e-mails) and call home twice a year (Christmas and Mother’s Day).
“It’s a real strict, strict schedule,” said Pratt, who is fluent in Spanish. “The church picks where you go and you don’t really have a say. They send you to a place in Provo to teach you how to speak. After you learn the basics, they just kind of throw you out there.”
The 22-year-old Pratt is now a junior center in his first spring with the YSU football team, utilizing the toughness that comes from being the youngest of six brothers (“They’re all smaller than me now,” he said, laughing) with the discipline that comes from obeying orders from your superiors (both natural and supernatural).
It’s helped him make a smooth transition to a city heavy on Italians and light on, say, sheep and Mormons.
“It’s been great so far,” he said. “I really like the team and the O-line has accepted me and the other junior college kids really quick.
“It’s just a real tight-knit group.”
Pratt (6-foot-3, 330) is penciled in as the starter for a Penguins offensive line trying to replace four seniors, three of them starters. At Snow Junior College, he was an all-conference selection for a team that went 10-2 and finished seventh in the country.
His first YSU practice was Wednesday and, while he struggled with his shotgun snaps, he feels confident he can quickly make the transition to FCS football.
“I think the biggest thing is going to be the speed,” said Pratt, whose quarterback mostly stayed under center in junior college. “Every level you go up, the speed changes. I know high school to junior college was a big difference and I can already tell right now, just from the first practice, that the speed’s picked up quite a bit.
“I’ll adjust to it and get in the groove.”
Pratt is one of two junior college transfers on YSU’s offensive line — junior tackle Lamar Mady is the other — and is at a little bit of a disadvantage compared to the rest of YSU’s linemen, who already have a year’s worth of experience working with line coach Carmen Bricillo.
“They know the teaching methods that Coach Carm has and they pulled me aside a few times and said, ‘Hey, you need to do this a little better,’” Pratt said. “They can explain things a little better than Coach Carm does.
“He does a great job, but they kind of put it in simpler terms.”
There are other adjustments, but Pratt hasn’t had much problem with the schoolwork (he’s majoring in international business), the media (“I think I got interviewed twice in Utah, so this is a little different,” he said to a group of five reporters after Wednesday’s practice) and the weather.
“This is perfect,” he said. “When it’s 50 degrees, we wear shorts back home.”
He even looks the part of a lineman, with a full beard (that doesn’t seem to have been groomed in weeks), a quick laugh (linemen are often the best interviews on any football team) and the highest listed weight of anyone on YSU’s roster.
“I gained some weight over the break,” he said. “I have to lose a few pounds.”
YSU head coach Eric Wolford’s background is as an offensive line coach, so it’s a safe bet Pratt will hear a few words he wouldn’t use on a Mormon mission, but, so far, the city seems like a good fit for this farm boy.
“It’s a great atmosphere,” he said. “I love the intensity Coach Wolford and Coach Carm bring.
“Everyone’s attitude has been amazing. I’m really looking forward to playing.”
