Pelini vs. Wolf vs. Heacock vs. Tressel

[IAA Fan]

Hold that thought. I assure we will be having a conversation about it in a few short years.

In my opinion, Wolf brought in far better athletes than Heacock did. And too early to tell if Bo's are close to Wolf's since recruiting isn't over with yet. Yes, they are small. Yes some have limited abilities. So far, it looks like Bo's recruits are closer to Heacock's than Wolf's . But better than what Heacock dragged in.

I find it strange how you think coach H's recruits we so poor. Wolf's QB was recruited by coach H. The TB's were awesome (with the exception of 1 mistake in a JUCO that had to start). With few exceptions ...the front lines were better (certainly none were less). Defensive players better than Wolf's in every position ...I mean EVERY position. It is more than clear to ANYONE that watched the team since coach H left, that it was his players that stood out for performance. The one thing that I will say is that coach H had less depth at TB & WR. However, he had better TE's, used a FB and had MUCH deeper lines than any Wolf team. Obviously we are comparing a pro-set offense (with the exception of the last two years) to a spread.

We must have watched completely different teams. I can say that I missed 3 home games in the last 25-years ...my daughter's birth (she is 25 now), my daughter's wedding and my grandson's first birthday ...and I did have him at the tailgate lot before his party. I go to spring and summer practices as well; so I have seen all of the teams a fair amount.

I do worry about the TE spot. So important in this conference.

[paladin]

 nm

[IAA Fan]

Fan -- we will continue to disagree. Yes , we had all those losing seasons with Heacock's GREAT recruits. Hard to believe I know.

Guess so:

JH Winning Seasons:
9-3
8-3
7-4
8-3
11-3
7-4
7-4

JH Losing Seasons:
5-7
4-7
4-8

You know, I would have taken 3 losing seasons from coach W if, gave us (5) 3-loss seasons. In other words over half of Heacock's teams had W/L records sufficient to make the current tourney format. How many did coach W have again?

Learn to back up your statements. So if H's recruits were so bad, why did they out perform coach W's again? Bad coaching you say? Then make that another reason to not renew his contract.

[Penguin Nation]

Fan -- we will continue to disagree. Yes , we had all those losing seasons with Heacock's GREAT recruits. Hard to believe I know.

Guess so:

JH Winning Seasons:
9-3
8-3
7-4
8-3
11-3
7-4
7-4

JH Losing Seasons:
5-7
4-7
4-8

You know, I would have taken 3 losing seasons from coach W if, gave us (5) 3-loss seasons. In other words over half of Heacock's teams had W/L records sufficient to make the current tourney format. How many did coach W have again?

Learn to back up your statements. So if H's recruits were so bad, why did they out perform coach W's again? Bad coaching you say? Then make that another reason to not renew his contract.

Heacock was here 9 years, not ten. In those 9 years, he had 6 winning seasons and 3 losing seasons. He had a winning MVFC record 4 out of 9 seasons: the first two years with Tressels players, and only twice in the following seven years.

That's what is called destroying a Championship tradition.

[IAA Fan]

Fan -- we will continue to disagree. Yes , we had all those losing seasons with Heacock's GREAT recruits. Hard to believe I know.

Guess so:

JH Winning Seasons:
9-3
8-3
7-4
8-3
11-3
7-4
7-4

JH Losing Seasons:
5-7
4-7
4-8

You know, I would have taken 3 losing seasons from coach W if, gave us (5) 3-loss seasons. In other words over half of Heacock's teams had W/L records sufficient to make the current tourney format. How many did coach W have again?

Learn to back up your statements. So if H's recruits were so bad, why did they out perform coach W's again? Bad coaching you say? Then make that another reason to not renew his contract.

Heacock was here 9 years, not ten. In those 9 years, he had 6 winning seasons and 3 losing seasons. He had a winning MVFC record 4 out of 9 seasons: the first two years with Tressels players, and only twice in the following seven years.

That's what is called destroying a Championship tradition.

Yes, take out that first 9-3 ...that was not H's. Not to continue with topic that an uninformed idiot always brings up. Heacock flat out better coach. Flat out better teams. BTW, who cares about the MVFC record as Tressel never really did squat in the Gateway either. Did you ever see one YSU player riding on our opposition's back because he cannot tackle? I never did either (outside of "America's Funniest Home Videos") ...that is until 5-years ago. Not one of you even care that Tressel changed our entire "winning" offense from option to pro-set ...THAT (and nothing else) is what destroyed our program. With the possible exception of Heacock's lack of guts to put the offense back where it was when we were a championship program. That and the university's $100k budget for all coaches outside of Heacock ...who made $105k. SO let's see, just what did the university get for their $280k salary for Wolf?

YSU Option offense in the 90's:
1990, 1991, 1992, 1993 and 1994: Post-season

YSU Pro offense in the 90's:
1997 and 1999:Post-season
1995, 1996, 1998: No post-season


We all know why Paladin brings this topic up (because some even more idiotic board administrator let him back on. Yes I need a gun to the head) ...why the rest of you? Do you think anyone gives a crap about 2001? It is fun to talk about specific players and what not, but stop falling for Paladin's traps.

[paladin]

I did not start this thread. Someone with control of the board did.

[IAA Fan]

maybe, but I am not a troll. I do not walk around and spread hate on the board then act as though I am informed about football. Then if someone questions you on a recruit ...you saw him play in HS ...even though we all know you never even knew whom he was until his mention here. Just stop doing these things. I watched some of these videos and a couple of these guys you were negative on are very good. ...very good. Yes we all know that you cannot say a player is truly good from a 5-minute video of his best work. Likewise you cannot say he is bad. No matter how many times you say something ..does not make it so. IN another 25-years you can question what I remember. For now, I remember every coach's teams since 1982. You cannot change my mind about what I saw.

[penguinpower]

Don't ban him Dan.  Let's see how it plays out.  I too am concerned about the physical measurements Regardless of how good their instincts are.  Wolford was a riverboat gambler when it came to players.  Every one had to have FBS physical measurements but not necessarily football IQ.  Sometimes they caught on and sometimes not so much.  How about the one kid that never played before a day he brought him on the DL?  That is some crazy stuff there. 

Heacock had two athletic teams in 2001 and 2002.  He had another two in 2005 and 2006.  Then things started to really slip a bit.  2008 and 2009 were not good.  We were beaten by better athletes with worse coaching at that time.  H


The low number of player scholarships won't cause as big of an impact in recruiting as it would in other years.  Wolford ran a lot of Heacock's recruits off and as a result the 2nd year of signing was a large class.  Bo looks like he's got a couple good ones and he can utilize the others on special teams etc. When he builds recruiting inroads.

[ScarletRook]

This is the off-season; I understand there isn't a lot of football to talk about, but Bo Pelini is the coach now.
I doubt there is a whole lot that can be done from a fan perspective, aside from attending games, that will help our team.  I just don't want to be rehashing losing records five years from now.

[ysufan0505]

Who really cares who about all this seriously? Past is the past..... Bo Pelini is the coach now so can we focus on that?

[jbags]

This whole thing cracks me up because you can never really judge an entire recruiting class until the 5 year eligibility is exhausted. All I know is I trust what I see and we need to fix only one side of the ball the upcoming season and our head coach has proven that his expertise lies on that side of the ball. Barring major injuries I am optimistic about our chances

[IAA Fan]

Also, as it seems that coach P might plan on staying for a few years, we have to give him the same benefit as any other coach. There are many challenges for moving from FBS to FCS. Just a few:

1. Transfers. There are not many transfers as the FBS-level. Coach P is going to have to learn how to check-up on any possible transfers and gain a measure of comfort.

2. Less scholarships and partials.

3. Talent-level. Just how much lower (if at all) is FCS than FBS?

4. Will winning truly resolve attendance? I say there is a great deal more to it.

5. Then there is the fact that our defensive style is going to be different than our offense is at this point. No matter how happy I am that coach P is keeping coach M as OC; coach P needs to see that our offense is different (I think much better) than others we face, especially in the conference. Pelini and the new DC have a big challenge in finding a way to jump this gap ...I know that coach W's staff could never do it.

6. If I were advising coach P, I would also try to distance myself from Mooney (or an HS for that matter). We are Youngstown State University; state titles are not the same as conference and national titles ...we look for the latter. It is good to keep aware of local prospects, but we are located in the steel valley, not a member of the steel valley conference.

[YSUFANSINCE1990]

   Tressel was one of a kind, there is only one, and we will never experience that kind of run again.   Heacock took over a great program and it quickly became just average;  1 playoff berth in nine years, and 0-9 vs Northern Iowa.

 Wolford, although the style much different that Heacock, was the same.   No playoffs, and couldn't win in November.

  The grade on Pelini is incomplete.  I would grade him a C- at Nebraska.  No BCS bowl appearances, and several awful blowout losses.   I don't want to hear about the 9 wins a year, a monkey at Nebraska should win 7 games playing Northwestern, Indiana, Illinois, and Rutgers every year, and throw in a couple of stiffs like McNeese State prior to league play.   This past year Nebraska barely beat McNeese, and also played Fresno State and Florida Atlantic in the preseason. 

 Also, short temper and unprofessional behavior is not a positive, even though some on this board think that kind of behavior is acceptable.

[jbags]

Whats your point? If he beat those cupcakes then should he be able to beat the cupcakes on our schedule? I think so! You havent even given the man a chance before youve condemned him. This is the first time hes been let go from a job, just give him the chance to learn from the reasons he was fired. The problem around here is that no one that came after Coach JT was coach JT.

[YSUFANSINCE1990]

  Not trying to make any point, just stating the facts.   Agree, only job he was fired from, and it was his only head coaching job of his career, just stating the facts.   Yes, he will beat the cupcakes on our schedule, Heacock and Wolford did that.   Time will tell if he can beat the elite programs in our league.

  It isn't all that difficult to make the playoffs in FCS, 24 teams get in, and that is really all YSU fans are asking for.