HEAD COACH ERIC WOLFORD
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n his first year as the Penguins’ head coach, everyone saw the energy and enthusiasm that Eric Wolford has for his hometown squad. A tireless worker, Wolford has turned the mindset of the program into playing a hard-nosed, exciting brand of football that YSU fans can be proud of. In 2010, the Penguins had a record-setting campaign on offense. YSU averaged a school-best 412 yards per contest while averaging 31.3 points per game, the fifth-highest total in school history. During the year, the Guins gained at least 500 yards three times - a first in the program’s history. YSU also tied the school record for points in a game (63) and set a school mark for first downs (33). During the course of the season, the Penguins had the lead at some point in every game. On Sept. 25, YSU defeated nationallyranked Southern Illinois. It was the first win over the Salukis since 2006. At Penn State, in Wolford’s debut, YSU led 7-3 midway through the second quarter. The touchdown was the first the program had scored in six previous games versus BCS members. Against nationally-ranked ranked teams, the Guins led Western Illinois, UNI and North Dakota State in the fourth quarter. In a nail-biting season, YSU played six games decided by six points or less and five of the Missouri Valley Football Conference losses came by a total of 19 points. Wolford became just the sixth head coach in the program’s history when he was tabbed to the position on Dec. 15, 2009. A graduate of Ursuline High School, who played his home games on Stambaugh Stadium’s turf, he built an impressive resume serving as a collegiate assistant for 16 years prior to
Coach Wolford has brought an exciting style of football to YSU.
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Coach Wolford enters his second season with the program.
taking over at YSU. Of those, 12 were spent on the FBS level. He has a tremendous background working with some of the most reputable names in college football. As an assistant, he has coached for Steve Spurrier (South Carolina), Ron Zook (Illinois), Mike Stoops (Arizona), Darrell Dickey (N (North Texas), Dana Dimel (Houston), Jim Leavitt (South Florida) aand Bill Snyder (Kansas State). He spent the 2009 season as the running-game coordinator aand offensive line coach at South Carolina. The Gamecocks p posted a 7-5 mark this past year and made an appearance in tthe PapaJohns.com Bowl against UConn. USC had four running backs rush for more than 100 yards in a game in 2009 after having just one eclipse the mark in the p previous campaign. Of his offensive line, four players made their first career start. Overall, 10 different players started at least o one contest up front, while three started at multiple positions. After joining the staff in January 2009, Wolford helped the G Gamecocks land the 13th-ranked recruiting class in the nation. The 40-year-old Wolford spent two seasons at Illinois (2007-08) w with Zook before heading to South Carolina. In his two seasons w with the Illini, his lines led the Big Ten Conference in rushing (2007) aand passing (2008) yards per game. During his two years, Illinois rranked in the top 20 nationally in recruiting. Averaging 269.3 yards in the air, the Illini ranked first in the Big T Ten in the category and 19th nationally in 2008. The team finished tthe season second in the conference in total offense with 438.8 yyards per contest, which also ranked 19th in the NCAA. Illinois’ to total yards topped 5,000 for just the fourth time in school history aand for the second consecutive year. Three members of the line e earned postseason recognition, including Big Ten second-teamer X Xavier Fulton, for their performances. In 2007, Illinois finished with a 9-4 overall mark and represented
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