New Youngstown State football defensive coordinator Ryan Riemedio.

YOUNGSTOWN — The Youngstown State football program has found a new defensive coordinator.

After a number of struggles on the defensive side of the ball the last couple seasons, YSU has hired Mercyhurst head coach Ryan Riemedio to oversee the defense going forward, a source confirmed to the Tribune Chronicle and Vindicator on Wednesday.

“I have a lot of respect for him as a person, leader and mentor,” Penguins head coach Doug Phillips said. “I think what he was able to do there (at Mercyhurst) with 32 scholarships was pretty good. Great teacher, and I think he’ll add great value in our program, especially on the defensive side.”

Riemedio replaces John Haneline, who was on Phillips’ coaching staff for four years and served as the Penguins’ defensive coordinator each of the past two years. Haneline accepted a defensive coaching position on Dell McGee’s staff at Georgia State at the end of December.

Phillips said the rest of YSU’s defensive coaching staff will remain intact. Trent Voss will continue to coach the safeties, while Michael Zordich will continue as cornerbacks coach and Ray Hunter will remain as defensive line coach.

The one other change on the coaching staff is the departure of special teams coordinator and defensive ends coach Pat Shepard, who is joining James Franklin’s staff at Virginia Tech.

“Every year, I hire (on average) three new coaches,” Phillips said. “I think I’m going on my 20th hire of coaches in my tenure here. There’s a coaches portal too. They can move up, get more money. But the most important thing I think I can do as a head coach, and I take it very seriously, is who I hire and who I put in that locker room. You gotta protect both of those. You gotta do a great job in the hiring process, and you gotta do a great job in a short period of time.”

A native of Seaside, California, Riemedio has a long history on the defensive side of the ball.

He played linebacker and long snapper while he was in college at Monterey Peninsula (Calif.) and Minot State (N.D.). After his playing days, he became a graduate assistant in 2012 at Mercyhurst, where he has spent the last 14 years.

During his time with the Lakers, Riemedio worked his way up the defensive coaching staff. He served as defensive line coach in 2014, before taking over special teams and the defensive line from 2015-19.

In 2020, he was elevated to become Mercyhurst’s defensive coordinator, and then he took over the head coaching job in 2022.

“I always look at leadership and teaching. I think those are two primary things that, as you go through, who can lead young men, who can lead staff, who can collaborate, who can get arrows pointing in the same direction,” Phillips said. “I think, selfishly, when you get a head coach, they kind of see the big picture. They understand. He’s called defense there (at Mercyhurst). They gave us some trouble. There’s a reason. Kind of liked what they did and him as a person, his family and what he’s been able to do.

Riemedio compiled a 13-31 overall record during four years as the Lakers’ head coach, with the 2025 season being his best, as he guided Mercyhurst to a 5-7 record and a fourth-place finish in the NEC at 4-3.

During his time as head coach, Riemedio also helped guide the Lakers through a transition from Division II to the FCS.

“He’s been there 14 years. That’s a long time to be at one place,” Phillips said. “I know how hard and difficult it was for him to leave. But I think he saw a great opportunity here at Youngstown State, and that makes us proud that people want to be here. He’s given up being a head coach to come be the defensive coordinator.”

This past season, Mercyhurst ranked in the top-50 in the FCS in scoring defense, top-40 in total defense and top-15 in pass defense.

In comparison, YSU ranked 80th in the FCS in total defense, 93rd in scoring defense and 112th in pass defense in 2025.

“I think looking at our personnel, we got 108 players going into spring ball, which is a lot,” Phillips said. “(There will be) competition and finding the best position to put those guys in to be able to play great defensive football, because I do believe we have great defensive players. I think at times we showed it last year, but we gotta look at consistency and the attention to detail, and I think a guy like Ryan can help bring all that together for us.”