How far are we from being a contender?

[penguinpower]

I was listening to the Valley-Football press conference.  Listening to Craig Bohl he said " This league is the toughest league in America".  Bohl is a class act and you have to listen to the last 3 minutes of his conference. Thinking about how far we have come..............

When Wolford got here he ran off everybody the first year and was hired late by our AD which put him at a disadvantage for recruiting.  He still got a good class, but maybe it could have been better due to the hiring timing.

I also think he made a mistake with Kravits as a DC.  It was a rookie mistake that he made.  Considering all of that and we are in what, Year 4?  I guess it may make sense.  We are in year 3 on offense and year 2 on Defense because of the coaching change we had to make on defense in year 2.  The other area that points ot our future success is that fact that the special teams play has been excellent, especially considering that the younger kids are playing there and they are demostrating excellent results (and there has been an upgrade at coach on special teams).

Here is the link to the call:
http://www.valley-football.org/multimedia/audio/

Am I missing something or am I trying to connect dots that don't belong connected?

[ysufan0505]

We are on our way.... Wolf took over a decimated program. Had to rebuild everything his own way. And we have been seeing results every single year. It's a process, and we are on our way!! GO PENGUINS

[paladin]

If you are talking National title, not close. If you are talking making the playoffs, we have been very close for several years under Wolf. This is the year they get in. That wasn't the case under the previous coach.

Kravits was brought in because of his connections in Florida and he knew the coaches down there. Recruiting got him a job. He might have stayed as a position coach but never a DC. Wolf had little staff when first hired and did much of the recruiting himself the first class. It was a smashing success. Damn near impossible to pull off and he did it, with better recruits than YSU was use  to. Wolf also made a serious mistake in hiring local H.S. coaches and they weren't ready for this level. Since corrected.

[penguinpower]

If you are talking National title, not close. If you are talking making the playoffs, we have been very close for several years under Wolf. This is the year they get in. That wasn't the case under the previous coach.

Kravits was brought in because of his connections in Florida and he knew the coaches down there. Recruiting got him a job. He might have stayed as a position coach but never a DC. Wolf had little staff when first hired and did much of the recruiting himself the first class. It was a smashing success. Damn near impossible to pull off and he did it, with better recruits than YSU was use  to. Wolf also made a serious mistake in hiring local H.S. coaches and they weren't ready for this level. Since corrected.

What do we need to be a NC contender?

[paladin]

DL & Secondary. If you are talking next year, add a QB to that.

[ysufan0505]

I think you guys will be pretty impressed with the young talent that is sitting on the sidelines right now and the kids that are redshirting. The future is very bright for this program. Wolf can recruit with the best of them!

[guinpen]

DL & Secondary. If you are talking next year, add a QB to that.

I agree

[KilrpengWin]

I think you guys will be pretty impressed with the young talent that is sitting on the sidelines right now and the kids that are redshirting. The future is very bright for this program. Wolf can recruit with the best of them!

I agree. Wolf is a pretty good recruiter, as far as players go. His recruiting of assistant coaches? I give that class a C-....

[ysuguins4]

Depends on how quickly the staff can develop another QB, and upgrade the Dline.

[paladin]

Develop a QB ?  With the talent that's here now, it will take years and will not approach the  success you had with  Hess. The dropoff will be serious next year as it stands now. All QBs here now ( and the one coming in) all have defects to their game. All lack experience. Some lack the arm. Others lack the judgement. The OC will have to come up with a new gameplan for next year and the running game will be front and center ( our strong suit).

Just my evaluation , but the situation calls for JUCOs at DL, DBs and QB for next year. Otherwise, players next year will be too young, inexperienced and not ready. Then the dropoff will be damaging. You heard it here first.

[ysufan0505]

Develop a QB ?  With the talent that's here now, it will take years and will not approach the  success you had with  Hess. The dropoff will be serious next year as it stands now. All QBs here now ( and the one coming in) all have defects to their game. All lack experience. Some lack the arm. Others lack the judgement. The OC will have to come up with a new gameplan for next year and the running game will be front and center ( our strong suit).

Just my evaluation , but the situation calls for JUCOs at DL, DBs and QB for next year. Otherwise, players next year will be too young, inexperienced and not ready. Then the dropoff will be damaging. You heard it here first.

Good luck trying to find a JUCO QB at this point..... You don't think Ricky Davis can take over?

[paladin]

Davis "MIGHT" work out after a couple of years training. People are not prepared for what will happen when Hess leaves as no one has been prepared. The talent drop off will be very noticeable and with it, YSU fortunes. Different talent ability will call for different O. Otherwise if people expect the current system to carry the program to continued success, you will be greatly disappointed.

The point is............... "someone" will take over. How effective will they be ? Or put another   way, will they be effective ? As effective as Hess ?  Most don't understand that Hess is a "system" QB,  but it works because of his ability in that system. That goes for the whole team as they are utilized with in concepts that allow for some success. That will change.

[Spiderlegs]

I think YSU is fine in the skilled positions given the quality of play from the freshmen and sophomores. The one position up in the air is QB, but Tanner Garry's performance last week leads me to believe that we will be fine as long as he gets coaching or reps.  If someone we haven't seen, like Ricky Davis, outperforms Garry, all the better.  The real deficiency is elsewhere, OL and defense. Most of our players in these positions seem to lack the size, athleticism, and knowledge of the game to make us a true contender.

[ysufan0505]

The OL will be fine. We got some big boys that we redshirted and they will ready for next year. Wolf does a great job with the OL. I'm not worried about that side of the line of scrimmage...

[SoupCity]

You're not?  They were totally manhandled last weekend.