A plan for the Penguins
Phillips says recruiting, mentality must change
Staff file photo / R. Michael Semple Youngstown State defensive back Zaire Jones returns an interception during a game last season. First-year head coach Doug Phillips is trying to make some changes he believes could change the fortunes of the Penguins.
Doug Phillips was in Florida, on a business trip of sorts to recruit a player to the University of Cincinnati.
The former UC assistant football coach was trading stories with another coach when Phillips let him know he began his football coaching career at Youngstown State. That caught his new friend’s attention as he coached in the same conference as the Penguins, and he couldn’t hold back his opinion on the YSU football team.
“I said, ‘Yeah, I started my career at Youngstown,’ ” recalled Phillips, now YSU’s head coach. “He talked and said, ‘They’re very talented, but they just weren’t mentally tough.’ I made sure I shared that with our team this winter. That’s what people thought, that you had skill but you weren’t mentally tough.”
RECRUITING UNDER QUARANTINE
As Phillips attempts to reinvigorate a program that has fallen off as a national power, he’s starting with mental toughness — and recruiting.
The two go hand in hand to the New Middletown native. As he and his coaching staff try to instill a different mindset to their current team and bring in players to carry on that mentality, they’re doing so under difficult circumstances.
The stay-at-home order in Ohio has curtailed recruiting for teams all over the state, and while the inability to visit players has led to YSU co-recruiting coordinator Josh Sinagoga being a bit more “creative” with his job, it hasn’t hindered his — and the staff’s — overall philosophy.
“Coach Phillips sets a tremendous example of the real relationships that we’re trying to build,” said Sinagoga, who also is the Penguins’ wide receivers coach. “We’re not just trying to build relationships. We’re trying to build real relationships, and those can only happen over time. Those are relationships that you can’t fake.
“I’m completely committed to that motto. I don’t know any other way. I don’t think a lot of coaches on our staff know any other way either, and it starts at the top.”
Phillips’ emphasis on recruiting is a pivotal part of his plan for the Penguins.
It was one of the first things he pointed to when asked how he could awaken a program that went from FCS dynasty to FCS afterthought. Phillips said he understands the perils of the Penguins, who have reached the playoffs just twice since former coach Jim Tressel departed in 2000 after winning four national titles.
A former graduate assistant under Tressel in the early 1990s, Phillips’ career includes stops as a high school coach in the Mahoning Valley (Springfield and Salem) and Toledo, before moving on to Ohio State, Bowling Green, Iowa State and Cincinnati.
His travels allowed him to see a broad landscape in the recruiting world, and while he has connections in several places, he said his best bet isn’t far from home.
“It starts with recruiting,” Phillips said of restoring YSU as a playoff and national championship contender. “We sit in a great place. I still believe Ohio high school football and western Pa. football is some of the best in the country.
“Recruiting is a daily thing,” he added. “We’ve got to do a great job building relationships with the high schools, building relationships with recruits and getting them to buy into the vision that we see at Youngstown State. Winning those battles and getting the right players to Youngstown.”
Sinagoga is one of the point-men when it comes to recruiting.
While he and Bryan Nardo are co-recruiting coordinators, Sinagoga made it clear recruiting is a staff-wide endeavor. In fact, each assistant has specific regions (some in-state, some out-of-state) in which he is charge of recruiting.
Ohio and Pennsylvania provide the main recruiting beds, but because some coaches have been part of programs in other states, they have created contacts in those places. Sinagoga, for instance, originally is from Michigan and was a graduate assistant at Central Michigan and his alma mater, Northwood University. Considering he has familiarity and relationships with high school coaches in that region, that’s a section of the country YSU, specifically Sinagoga, can recruit.
“We talk about the (Mahoning) Valley all the time and how important that is. It’s a staple in our program,” said Sinagoga, a 29-year-old former college quarterback from Warren, Michigan. “… Other areas we’re going to recruit, we’re going to recruit Michigan, we’re going to recruit Florida and Georgia in specific areas, and a little bit of New York.
“The biggest thing is those relationships that you build with the high school coaches and the players. The thing we did was, before prospects were a top priority, the high school coaches were the top priority and reaching out to those coaches. I’ve had nothing but tremendous experiences (with them).”
CHANGING THE MENTALITY
Recruiting is a daily part of coaching for the Penguins staff.
Phillips said each coach spends at least two hours every day “calling coaches, evaluating film, assessing players, ranking players on a board and deciding which players we’re going to recruit in the 2021 class.” The rest of their day is spent on the next part of the “development phase” of his plan.
To rid YSU of a mindset that has seen the Penguins crumble in big games and key moments, Phillips is instilling a focus he learned during his years with the Bearcats. UC was 4-8 in 2017, the first year current head coach Luke Fickell took over. Phillips was the special teams coordinator and watched a team loaded with talent fail to win games.
“We had three or four guys that are still currently on NFL rosters, and that’s probably the most we had, but the mental toughness and just buying into what you’re trying to create, it didn’t happen,” Phillips said. “That mental stuff happens in January, February, March and April.”
To help foster a different mentality, Phillips created something he calls “mat drills.”
These drills aren’t necessarily football-related. They’re more about testing the limits of the players, and how they respond. There are multiple stations set up, and an athlete is at a station for about 3 minutes. Players compete in various drills that last only a few seconds before there’s a short break.
The idea, Phillips said, is for the drill to mimic the time of an average football play (4 to 6 seconds). As the competitions intensify and players begin to tire, Phillips is watching. He recorded the drills during the weeks he was able spend with the players prior to the quarantine, and he analyzed their behavior.
“We were able to evaluate it and be critical with our kids — showing demeanor, attitude, effort and showing when it wasn’t at a high,” Phillips said. “Maybe their hands are on their knees, and in a football game in the third and fourth quarters, if your hands are on your knees, guess what the opponent is thinking? They’re thinking blood is in the water, and they’re like sharks.
“I’m trying to evaluate and assess those moments and be able to teach what type of attitude it’s going to take, what type of effort it’s going to take (to win),” he added. “I truly believe you’ve got to get that mindset before you can really work on the skill set, and that’s what you do in the offseason. If we can build our kids to be mentally tough, I think they have the skill set.”
Apparently, some other teams in the MVC do, too.
A plan for the Penguins
Staff file photo / R. Michael Semple Youngstown State defensive back Zaire Jones returns an interception during a game last season. First-year head coach Doug Phillips is trying to make some changes he believes could change the fortunes of the Penguins.
Doug Phillips was in Florida, on a business trip of sorts to recruit a player to the University of Cincinnati.
The former UC assistant football coach was trading stories with another coach when Phillips let him know he began his football coaching career at Youngstown State. That caught his new friend’s attention as he coached in the same conference as the Penguins, and he couldn’t hold back his opinion on the YSU football team.
“I said, ‘Yeah, I started my career at Youngstown,’ ” recalled Phillips, now YSU’s head coach. “He talked and said, ‘They’re very talented, but they just weren’t mentally tough.’ I made sure I shared that with our team this winter. That’s what people thought, that you had skill but you weren’t mentally tough.”
RECRUITING UNDER QUARANTINE
As Phillips attempts to reinvigorate a program that has fallen off as a national power, he’s starting with mental toughness — and recruiting.
The two go hand in hand to the New Middletown native. As he and his coaching staff try to instill a different mindset to their current team and bring in players to carry on that mentality, they’re doing so under difficult circumstances.
The stay-at-home order in Ohio has curtailed recruiting for teams all over the state, and while the inability to visit players has led to YSU co-recruiting coordinator Josh Sinagoga being a bit more “creative” with his job, it hasn’t hindered his — and the staff’s — overall philosophy.
“Coach Phillips sets a tremendous example of the real relationships that we’re trying to build,” said Sinagoga, who also is the Penguins’ wide receivers coach. “We’re not just trying to build relationships. We’re trying to build real relationships, and those can only happen over time. Those are relationships that you can’t fake.
“I’m completely committed to that motto. I don’t know any other way. I don’t think a lot of coaches on our staff know any other way either, and it starts at the top.”
Phillips’ emphasis on recruiting is a pivotal part of his plan for the Penguins.
It was one of the first things he pointed to when asked how he could awaken a program that went from FCS dynasty to FCS afterthought. Phillips said he understands the perils of the Penguins, who have reached the playoffs just twice since former coach Jim Tressel departed in 2000 after winning four national titles.
A former graduate assistant under Tressel in the early 1990s, Phillips’ career includes stops as a high school coach in the Mahoning Valley (Springfield and Salem) and Toledo, before moving on to Ohio State, Bowling Green, Iowa State and Cincinnati.
His travels allowed him to see a broad landscape in the recruiting world, and while he has connections in several places, he said his best bet isn’t far from home.
“It starts with recruiting,” Phillips said of restoring YSU as a playoff and national championship contender. “We sit in a great place. I still believe Ohio high school football and western Pa. football is some of the best in the country.
“Recruiting is a daily thing,” he added. “We’ve got to do a great job building relationships with the high schools, building relationships with recruits and getting them to buy into the vision that we see at Youngstown State. Winning those battles and getting the right players to Youngstown.”
Sinagoga is one of the point-men when it comes to recruiting.
While he and Bryan Nardo are co-recruiting coordinators, Sinagoga made it clear recruiting is a staff-wide endeavor. In fact, each assistant has specific regions (some in-state, some out-of-state) in which he is charge of recruiting.
Ohio and Pennsylvania provide the main recruiting beds, but because some coaches have been part of programs in other states, they have created contacts in those places. Sinagoga, for instance, originally is from Michigan and was a graduate assistant at Central Michigan and his alma mater, Northwood University. Considering he has familiarity and relationships with high school coaches in that region, that’s a section of the country YSU, specifically Sinagoga, can recruit.
“We talk about the (Mahoning) Valley all the time and how important that is. It’s a staple in our program,” said Sinagoga, a 29-year-old former college quarterback from Warren, Michigan. “… Other areas we’re going to recruit, we’re going to recruit Michigan, we’re going to recruit Florida and Georgia in specific areas, and a little bit of New York.
“The biggest thing is those relationships that you build with the high school coaches and the players. The thing we did was, before prospects were a top priority, the high school coaches were the top priority and reaching out to those coaches. I’ve had nothing but tremendous experiences (with them).”
CHANGING THE MENTALITY
Recruiting is a daily part of coaching for the Penguins staff.
Phillips said each coach spends at least two hours every day “calling coaches, evaluating film, assessing players, ranking players on a board and deciding which players we’re going to recruit in the 2021 class.” The rest of their day is spent on the next part of the “development phase” of his plan.
To rid YSU of a mindset that has seen the Penguins crumble in big games and key moments, Phillips is instilling a focus he learned during his years with the Bearcats. UC was 4-8 in 2017, the first year current head coach Luke Fickell took over. Phillips was the special teams coordinator and watched a team loaded with talent fail to win games.
“We had three or four guys that are still currently on NFL rosters, and that’s probably the most we had, but the mental toughness and just buying into what you’re trying to create, it didn’t happen,” Phillips said. “That mental stuff happens in January, February, March and April.”
To help foster a different mentality, Phillips created something he calls “mat drills.”
These drills aren’t necessarily football-related. They’re more about testing the limits of the players, and how they respond. There are multiple stations set up, and an athlete is at a station for about 3 minutes. Players compete in various drills that last only a few seconds before there’s a short break.
The idea, Phillips said, is for the drill to mimic the time of an average football play (4 to 6 seconds). As the competitions intensify and players begin to tire, Phillips is watching. He recorded the drills during the weeks he was able spend with the players prior to the quarantine, and he analyzed their behavior.
“We were able to evaluate it and be critical with our kids — showing demeanor, attitude, effort and showing when it wasn’t at a high,” Phillips said. “Maybe their hands are on their knees, and in a football game in the third and fourth quarters, if your hands are on your knees, guess what the opponent is thinking? They’re thinking blood is in the water, and they’re like sharks.
“I’m trying to evaluate and assess those moments and be able to teach what type of attitude it’s going to take, what type of effort it’s going to take (to win),” he added. “I truly believe you’ve got to get that mindset before you can really work on the skill set, and that’s what you do in the offseason. If we can build our kids to be mentally tough, I think they have the skill set.”
Apparently, some other teams in the MVC do, too.
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