By Joe Scalzo
scalzo@vindy.com
YOUNGSTOWN
One of the differences between football coaches and basketball coaches is that football coaches always know what they’re going to say and basketball coaches never want to say anything.
It’s true of YSU coach Eric Wolford. If he has something he wants to say, any question can serve as an entry point.
Case in point: After Wednesday’s practice — YSU’s first in full pads — he was asked about senior linebacker John Sasson. (That was pretty much the question, too. “Coach, can you talk about John Sasson?”)
“John’s obviously had a good summer and he’s a guy who returns with a lot of experience,” said Wolford.
End Sasson comments. Begin larger point.
“We’re trying to identify leaders,” Wolford said. “We want some guys who can step up when the heat’s on or adversity sets in and start grabbing somebody by the shirt and say, ‘Let’s go, let’s get this thing done.’
“I’m tired of doing that as a coach, you know what I mean? I really am.”
Now, it might be a coincidence that Wolford’s rant came immediately after getting asked about Sasson.
Then again, it might not.
Sasson was the team’s leading tackler last season — and one of its most-respected players — but he doesn’t seem like much of a screamer.
Can he play that role?
“I can do that when the time is right,” he said. “Sometimes you grab a guy by the facemask and say ‘Let’s go’ a little bit. There’s a bunch of ways to go about it.”
Sasson’s biggest challenge might come from teaching, not preaching. Of the 29 new defensive players, 10 play linebacker. The talent is there, the comprehension is not.
“I tried to be a leader in the past, but moreso this year because I am a senior,” he said. “I’m working with all three [linebacker] groups [Mike, Sam and Will], making sure everybody gets lined up right.”
Senior Obinna Ekweremuba has the same role — a bit of a surprise since the Nigerian native has spent most of his career just trying to learn the game. He grew up playing soccer and didn’t know anything about football when YSU’s director of football operations, Dan Kopp, spotted what looked like an NFL defensive end walking through Kilcawley Center.
“That’s one of Dan Kopp’s best recruits,” Wolford said. “If he gets the chance to play in the NFL, he might put him [Kopp] in his book.”
Ekweremuba didn’t play a game until last fall, when he started the last six at defensive end and showed flashes of his potential. He’s steadily progressed since then.
“I’m comfortable with the defense,” he said. “I look at it as a challenge to help the younger guys, especially the defensive ends.”
Fitch High graduate Steve Zaborsky is one of those defensive ends. A two-way standout in high school, Zaborsky is now a third-stringer just trying to move his way up the depth chart.
“I’m just working to get more reps,” Zaborsky said. “Once I get in there, I’m trying to go hard.
“The guys are a lot bigger and faster than in high school and you’ve just got to be on it every play.”
When he’s on the sideline, Zaborsky takes what Wolford calls “mental reps,” where he pays attention to the call, the scheme, the formation, the offensive approach — everything.
“You definitely have to take mental reps because when you get in, you’ve got to know what you’re doing,” Zaborsky said. “Every single play, you’re either learning if someone did something right or someone did something wrong.
“Coach usually goes one way or the other. He’s never really neutral.”
