ysupenguins.com ...fan home for YSU Sports
YSU Penguin Athletics => YSU Penguin Athletics => Topic started by: ysufan0505 on March 25, 2014, 03:07:44 PM
-
Joe Scalzo and Dana Balash both reporting Eric Wolford is getting a 2 year extension through 2016. Will coach this year under first contract. Unsure if he gets a raise.... Go Guins
-
Fine, but there better be a buyout clause contained within this contract. This program simply can not survive three more years of failure.
-
I agree Wick. Time to get in the playoffs. No more excuses
-
I agree Wick. Time to get in the playoffs. No more excuses
I agree
-
No Comment.
-
Time he should SHUT UP and start to PUT UP!!!
-
Time he should SHUT UP and start to PUT UP!!!
Exactly. The man is all talk, with no results. Its getting old fast.
-
I certainly understand the frustration !
Hopefully these coaching staff adjustments will
pay off in player development and game management.
This is a fan based message board and a good sounding board;
however, if the contract is finalized, it will be beating a dead horse.
-
Neither for or against the extension, but here is what I find extremely amusing --
the last coach kept losing more games each year he was here and people WANTED an extension. Wolf wins more games each year and people aren't FOR an extension, lol.
the previous coach, while a good DC, was a lousy HC who couldn't recruit at all and had sub-standard talent. Wolf, while supposedly a good OL coach, has been outstanding in bringing in better talent in recruiting, but has been killed by the D C.
the previous coach, while not a JT was an assist for JT and had the apologists crying for him. Wolf, never a JT assist., has no apologists .
the previous coach had good D teams and high school offenses that got embarrassing while Wolf has record breaking Os and a D that's plain awful.
the previous coach came nowhere near the playoffs before his extension while Wolf has just missed by one game for several years.
attendance fell with the previous coach while losing, yet even as Wolf wins more, attendance is flat or dropping
the previous coach ran the ball while Wolf lives by the pass.
the previous coach destroyed a Cadillac program while Wolf was handed a beat up junker.
The fair question is given the circumstances, who deserved an extension and who didn't, playoffs aside since neither made it when extensions handed out ?
Tale of Two Cities ?
lol
-
Interesting analogy Paladin ...but all opinion on H and W. Too many details left out.
The previous coach took over a worse program. Why? Because his recruits did not pull through and his coaching staff was demolished. The current coach's first-year staff chased away half of the defense ..then canned the D-coordinator.
The previous coach was much more consistent ...until the attempt to switch to the spread. He was even competitive with a team that was ALL 2nd & 3rd stringers.
The previous coach was much more competitive in the GFC ...the current coach simply loses to anything in the upper-half.
The truth is that the previous coach played Youngstown ball and in Youngstown it is truly not whether you win or lose ...it is how you play the game. The current coach came in and made changes ...so far they have not panned out.
The previous coach recruited extremely well, so get off that bad-recruiting crap. Always the same old blah, blah, blah "great DC bad HC or bad recruiter". Both are as much BS now as ever. Has not the current staff taught you anything? Wolf's best players come from H's top prep school connections. H recruited football players ...Wolf recruits athletes. Then we are stuck using these kids before they truly know their positions. All of W's top players so far have been H's recruits ...so what more evidence to you need? H recruited Youngstown but was still smart enough to get out to PA, GA, FL, TX and CA. Today coach W works with a budget that allows & expects him to travel. Today coach W pays a single coordinator more than coach H could pay himself and his entire staff.
This is no excuse, you don't win, you suffer the price. The previous coach lost his job. However, he had enough guts to tell Strollo that he would leave if he did not make the play-off. It did not happen and he kept his word.
I might add that the previous coach had a better record at the time of his first extension ...along with a conference championship.
The previous coach did not make the post-season after finishing in a tie for 1st-place. There was even initial negotiations to bring ESPN here again because we always show so well. The current coach complains about a committee that does not choose his team after they are blown out by the two teams above them & one below them in the conference.
That last comment might be uncalled for, as I did not think Wolf said anything after losing three in-a-row. Scalzo may have added a previous quote. If this is the case, I retract the comment.
So let's move on. If you are going to make comparisons ...make them with some supporting details. Remember that H also gave Wolf a team with a YSU D and a new spread O ...Wolf proceeded to replace that D we so desperately have needed the past few years. Isn't it funny how it always you that brings up coach H. The rest of the board moved on 4-years ago.
I do have an opinion on the extension ...you have to give it to him ...no reason not to. I have a problem with the hire in the first place.
-
Heacock did NOT take over a worse program.... Are you serious? Like Paladin said, Heackock was given the keys to a Cadillac and he left it burning on the side of the road. Wolf was given a jalopy that didn't drive and is slowing turning it around. You can't even compare the state of the program between the two
-
I can and did. I stand behind my statement. A caddy without 5 ashtrays is just a Chevy.
-
I agree with alot of what Palidin said.. I also understand an extension.
However... I think the reason some people, myself included, are simply fed up with wolf are his persona.
He talks and talks a big game, yet hasn't exactly produced what he's talked up. He's arrogant as all hell, he's disrespected many people since day 1. If he wins, fine. Everyone would probably just put up with it. But if your going to be a cocky ass, at least do as you say you'll do. He came in with a big head, thinking this would be easy.
-
Wolf is not the only coach with an ego and an abrasive persona. Not defending that at all, but now a days it seems is what fans call "swag" and relish it among players. If you are holding players responsible you have to account for yourself too and that is not the aura that Wolf projects. You can be forgiven of a lot of things when you are winning and accused of a lot when you don't.
Venting frustration with the football program by not attending games is not very effective when attendance is on the decline. I feel it only contributes to problems. 1. Fans will be portrayed as not caring enough about a program to show up so why make changes? 2. Players develop apathy when fan base declines and the fire and desire to win soon fades.
It seems the whole school has been abandoned by the powers to be. Enrollment is dropping, yet I see very few attempts to market YSU beyond the regional area. When I am back in the area, I am surprised by how few businesses display any type of YSU gear, but stand ready to collect fan base $$. Sometimes I think YSU has painted the whole campus with camouflage so it will go unnoticed. There is a whole attitude that needs to be changed.
-
Wolf is not the only coach with an ego and an abrasive persona. Not defending that at all, but now a days it seems is what fans call "swag" and relish it among players. If you are holding players responsible you have to account for yourself too and that is not the aura that Wolf projects. You can be forgiven of a lot of things when you are winning and accused of a lot when you don't.
Venting frustration with the football program by not attending games is not very effective when attendance is on the decline. I feel it only contributes to problems. 1. Fans will be portrayed as not caring enough about a program to show up so why make changes? 2. Players develop apathy when fan base declines and the fire and desire to win soon fades.
It seems the whole school has been abandoned by the powers to be. Enrollment is dropping, yet I see very few attempts to market YSU beyond the regional area. When I am back in the area, I am surprised by how few businesses display any type of YSU gear, but stand ready to collect fan base $$. Sometimes I think YSU has painted the whole campus with camouflage so it will go unnoticed. There is a whole attitude that needs to be changed.
Very good point
-
The previous coach took over a worse program.
The most insane comment ever posted on this message board.
I agree, although reluctantly, with the extension. Wolford's trajectory is one of continual improvement, although painfully slow. IMO, to be honest, there is likelihood of a plateau or decline in the future. But the fact that there is an improvement in the W-L each year deserves him an extension.
Heacock's trajectory was one of progressive failure. His contract extension was an act of insanity, and IMO is scandalous. I feel like saying Heacock sucked at HC is like arguing the obvious (like water is wet), and yet there still is mind-boggling praise for him.
-
Just a reminder in the Heacock era. For the FIRST TIME, YSU won the Gateway Conference
And secondly we went to playoffs at Appy in 2006 after his contract extension...Paladin!!!!!
-
I do agree that Wolf had to be given an extension. Yet the guy giving them out has shown poor judgment in that and running the athletic dept. As I pointed out, it hilarious that we still have people who bad mouth a winning coach and still worship a loser and the reasons are ................. Well, you fill in the blank.
Candidly, Wolf 's mouth gets him in trouble. He's an azz at times. A master recruiter but a clown at PR. Yet while not getting to the playoffs, you have to give credit where the talent base has improved to produce a record setting pass O while suffering with a lame D. There I blame poor coaching, poor DC and talent good but not on par with the O. That's his responsibility. Overall ? Night and day difference between the two coaches. You can't can a winning coach who improves the record every year, brings in better talent, beats a real D-I ( Pitt), has a winning record and displays discipline when needed. 8 wins any year is usually the playoffs. And 7 wins could be sometimes.
Has the program improved over the last coach ? That's why an extension had to be given. No question at all.
-
If his record improves this season, with the presumed holes in the lineup, I will be truly impressed. As we all should be.
This will truly be his team this year...we'll see how it goes.
-
Would appreciate some honest comments.
The discussions about the current AD or Coach H vs Coach W doesn't resolve the problems at hand.
Almost like arguing Ali vs Holmes; good cannon fodder, but no resolve as each
had their own qualities.
The posters here seem to have a great knowledge of YSU athletics. Is there a way we can
use this to improve on where we are lacking?
Every time I visit a place of business near YSU <and I admit, I don't get there too often> I ask
the manager why they don't show support of the university. I get the fact that some restaurants and
bars are "themed", but if they can display Browns & Steelers, they can display YSU.
I keep writing the Trustees and asking them for more TV advertisement. I see ads for Ohio U., Akron, Kent, B.G. and Marshall and WVU for crying out loud. Why no YSU? If nothing else, the University has excellent camouflage paint.
YOUNGSTOWN STEALTH UNIVERSITY
-
I will offer praise to Strollo for the length of the extension ...very wise move in any sport. Here is the crux of my problem.
1. We continue to field the best players, which sounds fine on the surface ...your best guys are playing. Except Wolf thinks we are an SEC or Big-10 staple program, with highly-skilled recruits coming in each year. This is not the case at the I-AA/FCS level ...these recruits are either:
1a) raw & gifted. (needing a couple years scout and reserve play). Or,
1b) skilled and deficient in some minor aspect. (Let's face it, if they were gifted and without deficiency they would be on an SEC or Big-10 staple program).
So if you can recruit that kid that might be a bit smaller & build him up. Or a bit slower, but knows how to cover. Or that RB that is just a bit small, but has eyes. That WR that might be a bit shorter, or maybe not overly heavy, but can catch ...you are going to have a good football team in 2-3 years. Well we do not have that now.
2. However, factor in the 3 changes in DC over 4-years, along with our continued starting of underclassmen and JUCOs ...we do not have any player-educators on the field other than one or two position coaches. All of our previous coaches (well I cannot speak for Beede, I was not around) could count on experienced upperclassmen to help out with the vast-majority of the on-field education. It is these upperclassmen that do the bulk of the coaching. This is why we worry if there will ever be any improvement. Or even if we do make the post-season ...can we go anywhere?
-
I can live with the extra 2 years, this year will tell the tale if he has been building a program or not. Will we have players step up and fill in the holes in the lineup? If not we are not going in the direction we need to. Money to support the program will be harder and harder to find. Staff is making more money if they do not produce then at the end of his contract he needs to go.
-
Count me as one against the extension. I know Strollo was painted into a corner with having a lame duck coach and what it would mean for recruiting. The problem, though, is Wolford has demonstrated his ceiling already. This guy simply is not a championship level coach. If you don't see that, you are kidding yourself. He definitely does a good job getting skilled athletes. Without getting into the Heacock v. Wolford thing, the Heacock teams looked so slow and badly overmatched in their BCS games. Wolford's teams look reasonably competitive in these games and, of course, even won one of those games.
Wolford, though, seems to be a homeless man's version of Les Miles. He gets good players, but is actually kind of stupid and over-emotional on the sidelines. The team in the Wolford years plays exactly like their coach. The team is undisciplined, most notably in their sloppy special teams play and problems with blowing leads and winnable games. I think Wolford is probably well-suited as a coordinator. He can probably continually produce winning seasons here----just of the 7-4 variety. I don't think he has the intellect or X and O chops to win 4 playoff games in a row. I don't see the point in keeping a guy if this is evident already.