YSU to play Pitt in 2015 and 2017

[paladin]

I'm not sure why there is even a discussion of Heacock here. Its irrelevant. He was a bad HC, period and the apologists aren't going to change the minds of the thousands who attended the games that hold that opinion. Revisionist history won't work either. I do agree with Wick, the common bond and the primary  reason for the whole athletic dept  being a mess rests at the top -- Strollo.  One guy has messed up everything. In football, scheduling D-II ( when they didn't count towards playoffs), coach selections, unwarranted contract extensions, snafu with the tailgates, etc.  All are the mark of Strollo. Failures. And no need to discuss the rest of the mess that is the athletic dept.  But somehow, we have some who continue to exhault their heroes -- Heacock & Strollo. I hope this is just a mental condition and not a disease ! 

[ItalianPenguin]

JJ--Heacock did have some misfortune but as someone else posted (sorry for not properly crediting who did) there are more automatic bids now, too so even though the field is larger, it's not necessarily made up of alot of power conference non-champions. That's why bust-out teams like Butler get in now. Listen, I know Heacock personally and there's not a finer man around. I'd certainly trust having my kid play for him. It's just a matter of not getting into the playoffs that killed him---and it's swallowing Wolford as well. But you are right, he did have some bad luck.

[IAA Fan]

I think we saw a great deal this year, including our money game future; let's hope we learned from it.

1. People are allowed to talk about any coach they want to & say what they want. You say something positive about coach H & people attack you. Say, who messed up our program more than coach T back in 1996, when he put us back in an archaic pro-set formation ...just to prove to OSU that he could coach a Big-10 program? The only reason that we won the title in 1997 was because we still had large numbers of player that we used to the option game we had the previous 8-seasons. Yet if you say anything negative about coach Tressel ...you are demon-spawn. The truth is we have had a solid run of coaches up until this one ...but we gave Tressel several years to learn, so we are obligated to do the same now. The big difference is that Tressel knew his place.

2. I will take Pitt every year. Why? Because it is an hour away and I am a fan!!! Or would you rather sit here and gripe about how far away the Dakotas are, wishing you had the expendable income to purchase plane fair?

3. We learned that a need to return to Youngstown State football is crucial, if we want to compete in the MVFC. We need stronger & deeper lines, versatile tight-ends, power run-game complimented with speed (feel free to reverse that), run-stopping defense with DI secondary, a system QB with mobility & height.

[rayI09]

Like Tressel or not, his accomplishments speak for themselves. He was one of the all-time greatest college football coaches ever. YSU was very fortunate and lucky to have him as head coach. Coaches like Tressel are rare and don't come by often. heacock and Wolford clearly are not cut from the same cloth. No doubt they both are good coaches, but they are not good head coaches. Their records speak for themselves. tressel set extremely high standards around here and I don't think anyone will ever come close to living up to those standards.  As I said before, we would have a hell of a coaching staff if we could hire heacock a d coordinator, wolford as o coordinator and put them guys around a ture head coach-whomever that may be. problem is that we have hired assistant coaches to be head coaches and you can't be successful if you do that.

[IAA Fan]

Like Tressel or not, his accomplishments speak for themselves. He was one of the all-time greatest college football coaches ever. YSU was very fortunate and lucky to have him as head coach. Coaches like Tressel are rare and don't come by often. heacock and Wolford clearly are not cut from the same cloth. No doubt they both are good coaches, but they are not good head coaches. Their records speak for themselves. tressel set extremely high standards around here and I don't think anyone will ever come close to living up to those standards.  As I said before, we would have a hell of a coaching staff if we could hire heacock a d coordinator, wolford as o coordinator and put them guys around a ture head coach-whomever that may be. problem is that we have hired assistant coaches to be head coaches and you can't be successful if you do that.

I appreciate everything coach T did, I mainly said those things to prove a point. Although I truly did not like the change on offense, and I do not feel that Tressel operated in our best interest. Case in point, the score of the 1999 final and 2006 semi. I blame coach H for waiting too long to go back to the option and add some spread. By 1999 we had no one left to defense the option ...and in 2006 we had no one that could defense the spread-option. We looked like we were standing still in both contests.

[DavedS]

Like Tressel or not, his accomplishments speak for themselves. He was one of the all-time greatest college football coaches ever. YSU was very fortunate and lucky to have him as head coach. Coaches like Tressel are rare and don't come by often. heacock and Wolford clearly are not cut from the same cloth. No doubt they both are good coaches, but they are not good head coaches. Their records speak for themselves. tressel set extremely high standards around here and I don't think anyone will ever come close to living up to those standards.  As I said before, we would have a hell of a coaching staff if we could hire heacock a d coordinator, wolford as o coordinator and put them guys around a ture head coach-whomever that may be. problem is that we have hired assistant coaches to be head coaches and you can't be successful if you do that.

My thoughts exactly!

[ValleyTalk]

Heacock was handed a championship program from Tressel and proceeded to make the playoffs ONCE in NINE years. If that's the definition of a solid head coach, then let's get him into the football hall of fame pronto.

Jon Heacock is the unluckiest coach in YSU history. Got SCREWED out of the playoffs in 2001 after almost pulling the biggest upset in college football (at the time) at #23 Marshall. Got screwed in 2005.

Turned the football over 5 times against UNI in 2006, costing them the #2 overall seed in the NCAA play-offs.

Had one of the most injury plagued year in 2007, and still finished with a 7-4 record. Remember they lost to #1 UNI that year by one point.

Say what you want about Heacock, I;m just going by the facts. He's one of the best coaches (winning percentage, total wins) in YSU history.

And in another unlucky note,  if I could have just changed 5 numbers, I would have hit the Mega Millions

IP - I respect many of your opinions. Even when I don't agree with you I still read and respect what you have to say, because you are one of the actual few intelligent message board posters here.

But you have to admit, if the play-off system now, were set up like it was now during the Heacock era, JH would still be our head coach, and have at least four play-off appearances. You can help but say he was very unlucky.

I disagree. He had D2 wins on his resume that made us miss the playoffs during those bubble seasons.

[ysubigred]

Heacock was handed a championship program from Tressel and proceeded to make the playoffs ONCE in NINE years. If that's the definition of a solid head coach, then let's get him into the football hall of fame pronto.

Jon Heacock is the unluckiest coach in YSU history. Got SCREWED out of the playoffs in 2001 after almost pulling the biggest upset in college football (at the time) at #23 Marshall. Got screwed in 2005.

Turned the football over 5 times against UNI in 2006, costing them the #2 overall seed in the NCAA play-offs.

Had one of the most injury plagued year in 2007, and still finished with a 7-4 record. Remember they lost to #1 UNI that year by one point.

Say what you want about Heacock, I;m just going by the facts. He's one of the best coaches (winning percentage, total wins) in YSU history.

And in another unlucky note,  if I could have just changed 5 numbers, I would have hit the Mega Millions

IP - I respect many of your opinions. Even when I don't agree with you I still read and respect what you have to say, because you are one of the actual few intelligent message board posters here.

But you have to admit, if the play-off system now, were set up like it was now during the Heacock era, JH would still be our head coach, and have at least four play-off appearances. You can help but say he was very unlucky.

I disagree. He had D2 wins on his resume that made us miss the playoffs during those bubble seasons.

With the clown we have now for a coach, he has I AAA wins on his resume in bubble years and still not in the playoff's! What's your point   

[ysufan0505]

Last point I will make... Why did it take Heacock SIX years to make the playoffs after Tressell gave him a program coming off great success??..... 6 years!! And it was his only year in the playoffs! I could care less about winning percentage. Wolford barely missed the playoffs twice in his first 4 years. He has had to rebuild this program from the dust Heacock left it in. Yes, Wolf has had his struggles... But so did Heacock and he was in way better position than Wolf was in.... Some of you Heacock lovers need a reality check big time.

[penguinpower]

Last point I will make... Why did it take Heacock SIX years to make the playoffs after Tressell gave him a program coming off great success??..... 6 years!! And it was his only year in the playoffs! I could care less about winning percentage. Wolford barely missed the playoffs twice in his first 4 years. He has had to rebuild this program from the dust Heacock left it in. Yes, Wolf has had his struggles... But so did Heacock and he was in way better position than Wolf was in.... Some of you Heacock lovers need a reality check big time.

Here is the way I look at it. Heacock is a better coach than Wolford. Wolford is a better recruiter. Strollo is to blame for the scheduling issues that took away Heacock's ability to make the playoffs in a few years he deserved to be given the chance. The conference commissioner has done nothing to help garner any respect for the teams in our league. Heacock was also left all of the baggage when Tressel left. He was given "run it up the middle" Klacik and he was given "grass smoker" Rekstis etc. Tressel took his important coaches with him to OSU. Heacock tried to win without firing some of his "friends" and he didn't do anything until it was too late. His slow movement in dealing with the inadequacy of his assisstants paired with the horrible scheduling and Heacock's dislike for recruiting is the reason why it took him so long to make the playoffs.

Wolford's bold moves in chasing Heacock's recruits off the team hasn't helped him, especially in that first year (didn't we lose like 43 people?) and his lack of emphasis on defense is starting to doom him as well. Our defense is horrible. I struggle to watch games because it doesn't matter how big the lead is, the other team is still in it.

Both men are not good head football coaches. Good head football coaches would have turned the ship already. EIU was a basement dweller and suddenly won 6 games under their new coach and in year 2 made it to round 2 of the playoffs. All of this with a sh**ty stadium and lesser facilitities.

Heacock and Wolford have been given much more as far as facilities. Wolford has the advantage of a higher budget and a renovated locker room and an indoor practice facility. Nothing tells me that either are great head coaches. I say don't renew the contract. Both were given thier chances.  I would rather lose a close one than get beat the way we do at times now. Go find someone else

[ValleyTalk]

Last point I will make... Why did it take Heacock SIX years to make the playoffs after Tressell gave him a program coming off great success??..... 6 years!! And it was his only year in the playoffs! I could care less about winning percentage. Wolford barely missed the playoffs twice in his first 4 years. He has had to rebuild this program from the dust Heacock left it in. Yes, Wolf has had his struggles... But so did Heacock and he was in way better position than Wolf was in.... Some of you Heacock lovers need a reality check big time.

Here is the way I look at it. Heacock is a better coach than Wolford. Wolford is a better recruiter. Strollo is to blame for the scheduling issues that took away Heacock's ability to make the playoffs in a few years he deserved to be given the chance. The conference commissioner has done nothing to help garner any respect for the teams in our league. Heacock was also left all of the baggage when Tressel left. He was given "run it up the middle" Klacik and he was given "grass smoker" Rekstis etc. Tressel took his important coaches with him to OSU. Heacock tried to win without firing some of his "friends" and he didn't do anything until it was too late. His slow movement in dealing with the inadequacy of his assisstants paired with the horrible scheduling and Heacock's dislike for recruiting is the reason why it took him so long to make the playoffs.

Wolford's bold moves in chasing Heacock's recruits off the team hasn't helped him, especially in that first year (didn't we lose like 43 people?) and his lack of emphasis on defense is starting to doom him as well. Our defense is horrible. I struggle to watch games because it doesn't matter how big the lead is, the other team is still in it.

Both men are not good head football coaches. Good head football coaches would have turned the ship already. EIU was a basement dweller and suddenly won 6 games under their new coach and in year 2 made it to round 2 of the playoffs. All of this with a sh**ty stadium and lesser facilitities.

Heacock and Wolford have been given much more as far as facilities. Wolford has the advantage of a higher budget and a renovated locker room and an indoor practice facility. Nothing tells me that either are great head coaches. I say don't renew the contract. Both were given thier chances.  I would rather lose a close one than get beat the way we do at times now. Go find someone else

Fact. Strollo scheduled the exact same way Tressel did. They both did Division 2 games, sometimes 2 per year, to fill out the schedule. It wasn't until 2007 that we started the full D1 schedule.

[jjysuwin]

Everyone keeps asking why it took 6 years to makes the play-0ffs, forget the time Heacock was absolutely screwed from making the playoffs in 2001 and 2005.

The week of September 11, 2001, YSU was set to travel to nationally ranked Toledo. Toledo was good that year. Finished 10-2 and won the MAC championship. Would YSU have won that game? Probably not. But who knows. Anyway, that game got cancelled because on 9/11. All other college football games were cancelled as well. Many I-AA schools could not/did not re-schedule their games. YSU needed the money, so they picked up Marshall. At the end of the season, the teams with the same amount of wins as YSU, but who did not pick up the extra loss, made the play-offs. YSU almost became the first i-AA to beat a I-A ranked team. They didn't. They just missed the playoffs. We all know the story of 2005.

Heacock and YSU feel victim to the NCAA letting the small guys catch up to the big guys. Heacock was a casualty. YSU was undoubtedly one of the 16 best teams in the country 3 times while Heacock was the coach. 

[Lets_Talk]

I agree that Strollo kept following the model Tressel had established in regards to scheduling. Where I fault Ron, is continuing to do this, even after it became obvious this hurt YSU's chances to make the playoffs as an at-large team. This model continued, even after the NCAA allowed wins over non-scholarship FCS programs to count as D1 wins, and it became obvious the selection committee was NOT giving credit for wins over Non-D1 schools.

The model Tressel used cost YSU an at-large bid in 96, when YSU was in their final season as an Independent. 8-3, with no real quality wins, and 3 of the wins against D2 teams. YSU also had no real quality wins, and lost in 2OT to a not very good Ill State team. But, for the most part, this scheduling model worked, because Tressel's teams were able to win at least 9 games. In 89 and 91, YSU won only 8 games, but had a win over 1A Akron in 89. In 89, YSU also won at Central Michigan. In 91, YSU finished the season with 4 straight wins, including at Georgia Southern.

The 92 team only had 8 wins, as they went 8-2-1. The tie was at Akron, and YSU had a win at Ohio U.
In 90, 93,94,97,99 and 00, YSU won at least 9 games, so the D2 games did not come back to haunt YSU.

I do not think the 2001 team deserved to make the playoffs. They finished T-2nd in the MVFC, but lost at home to WKU, making YSU the 3rd place team. YSU was 8-3 overall, but with 2 of the wins over D2 schools.

In 05, it was basically the same thing. YSU was 7-1/4-0, then lost back-to-back road games at the 2 best teams in the conference, UNI and SIU. Finished season with a win over WKU, but it was a down year for WKU as they finished 6-5. YSU finished in 3 way tie for 1st place, but essentially were 3rd place as they lost to UNI and SIU. The 41-0 drubbing at PITT did not help as far as making the playoffs.

As for the last 4 seasons, YSU has only themselves to blame for missing the playoffs. 2 of the last 3 seasons, YSU ended the season at home, in what essentially was a play-in game for the playoffs. And, they lost both times.

[Wick250]

Looking back is interesting, but I am more concerned with the future.  I am deeply distressed by the current status of the football program for two reasons.

First, the degree of apathy among casual fans has reached a point that is even worse than it was during Heacock's final season.  That apathy has spread into basketball season with the pathetic "crowds" despite the presence of one of the best YSU basketball players ever.

Second, I hope that those who still support Wolford are correct, and that this guy finally puts it all together.  I just do not see it happening.  This is the worst defense in the modern history of the program.  In four years, Wolford has not recruited a single defensive player that could have played during the championship run of the 90s. 

Apathy and no defense equates to doom.

[IAA Fan]

I might add that we all knew that YSU was going to have post-season success with coach H's experience. When coach W does make the play-off, we are going to need a few appearances for him to learn play-off coaching as well. It requires a different-level of coaching. You have to learn not to do certain things throughout the season, but still practice them in spring and summer.

Really great point on scheduling Valley. The division rules caused the schedule changes & we had to fulfill prior commitments. So we were a few years behind.

Good points as well Power. I would say that I really liked Retskis ...and would be going after him now ...but it is too soon. However, there was no love-loss between he and coach H. In a way I do not blame Restkis ...everyone though coach H was going to take over Indiana or a MAC school ...and Retkis was going to be Tressell's DC. Then coach H returned to YSU and took the DC job away from Pete.

JJ seems to be one of the only ones that realized how big that Marshall game was. It was ..."Win and be a seed ...or lose and have Thanksgiving at home". I have never seen a YSU team play the way that team did in that game. We played the Herd (ranked 21/18 at the time) better than probably any team that year. Ryan had a bad game passing, so it was all on PJ Mays. We tied it at the end of Q3, then Ryan took a sack & then threw an INT. We were beat in Q4 and the game.