Correspondent photo / Robert Hayes YSU’s Beau Brungard runs during an inside run period at Stambaugh Stadium. The Penguins opened up their 2025 Fall Camp on Monday.

YOUNGSTOWN — Nearing the end of practice on Monday morning, new Youngstown State offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich wasn’t happy with what he was seeing from his unit.

As the defense continued to work through drills on one half of the field, Yurcich pulled all the offensive players aside and had them take a knee in a huddle.

Loudly and animatedly, he addressed his concerns. Once he had said his piece, the offensive players and coaches returned to their drills for the remainder of practice.

It was a come to Jesus moment for the Penguins, especially the new faces around practice, as YSU began fall camp ahead of the upcoming 2025 season on the toasty Beede Field turf at Stambaugh Stadium.

“Our kids know it comes from a place in our heart. You want to be the very best — everyone raises their hand about how good they want to be, well now you have to take the coaching,” head coach Doug Phillips said after YSU’s first practice. “For us, the intensity has got to be there in practice. We gotta make sure that we execute each and every day, and that’s coaches, all of us.”

Between 25 freshmen and roughly 15 transfers, YSU has as many as 40 new players that have joined the roster throughout the summer.

The Penguins are hoping to set the tone early for them through these first couple practices before the full pads come on starting Saturday.

“(We’re) getting everyone up to speed on what the expectations are and what the standards are. If we’re still coaching effort and attitude in three weeks, then shame on us,” Phillips said. “That should be the standard that’s set on day one. Now we can just work on becoming better, fundamentally sound and executing offensively, defensively and on special teams.”

YSU is coming off a disappointing 4-8 season in which eight of their games were decided by one score.

The offense returns junior quarterback Beau Brungard, in addition to a stable of tailbacks in the backfield, as well as depth and experience on the offensive line. YSU spent the spring installing Yurcich’s new offensive scheme and now it’s trying to fine-tune it before the camp concludes.

“We’re in a good spot,” said junior offensive lineman Desmeal Leigh. “We’re working and trying to improve every day.”

On the opposite side of the ball, YSU hopes an additional year of experience can aid a much-maligned defense that struggled mightily all of last season.

Last year’s unit was plagued by heavy attrition with the number of players that entered the transfer portal before the season. But the Penguins found some stability on that side of the ball this offseason and added some key pieces in the transfer portal.

“I think we learned that we have a lot of mature guys now and we’re able to deal with adversity together,” senior linebacker Preston Zandier said. “We can lean on each other and we can hold each other accountable. … We got a lot of older guys that came in. Just the way we go about ourselves and the way the defense is moving now, you can see guys lean on each other and guys are just ready to go.”

The Penguins feel like they’re right on the cusp heading into this season, especially with the amount of experience that they have returning.

“Every year I’m going to be optimistic, but I feel a lot different than I ever have, and I think that’s because of the leadership that we have offensively, defensively and on our staff,” Phillips said. “We’ve got a lot of fourth-year players, guys that have been to the playoffs, guys that lost last year in tough games…they’re kind of the glue to the team.

“The one thing I really love about this team is the player-led leadership. It’s gotta come from them. I always say this, but a little less me, little more them. They’ve gotta be the ones because they’re the ones on the field on Saturdays making plays and keeping that locker room together.”

After day one, YSU now has 20 practices left over the next month before it kicks off the season Aug. 28 with a Thursday night home game against Mercyhurst.