YOUNGSTOWN — For someone who has never cared for the theatrics of National Signing Day, Youngstown State coach Bo Pelini sure seemed to be in a good mood Wednesday.

“Great day for the program,” said Pelini as he walked into the press conference. “Great day.”

This wasn’t the first time he felt that way.

Pelini was equally exuberant last year when the Penguins signed a large contingent of players — several of whom were from the Mahoning Valley. Pelini said with the last two classes, it wasn’t just the talent or character of the players, but the fact that YSU was able to address several areas that were in need of depth.

“I told you guys how excited I was about last year’s class, and we were able to redshirt most of those guys,” said Pelini, referring to the Penguins giving redshirts to every true freshman but corner Dee Ford. “We’ll see how this group plays out, but we’re talking about two classes in a row that I think are going to lay a foundation for this program going forward. I have not had that luxury.”

Pelini didn’t shy away from the reason why.

Going into his sixth year leading YSU, Pelini admitted he focused mostly on junior college and FBS transfers when he first took over because he wanted to win right away.

That paid off with a trip to the FCS Championship in his second year, but it also may have set the program back the last few seasons, with YSU finishing 6-5 in 2017, 4-7 in 2018 and 6-6 this past year.

“I felt like we were short-term fixing things for the first few years, trying to patchwork things together,” Pelini said. “Now we’re working under the premise that we’re building this program for the future — not only for the present but also the future — which is a good feeling when you sit in my seat.

“You’ve got to make those decisions,” he added. “When I first came in, I wanted to win right now. You want to win and you want to have a chance to compete.”

The first part of this year’s class (Wednesday was the “early signing period” with another set for February) is much different than last year’s.

There was only one area athlete on Wednesday’s list — Girard offensive lineman Haeden Gump — after YSU signed seven last year. The 6-foot-4, 280-pound Gump will join fellow Indians Mark Waid, a soon-to-be redshirt freshman quarterback, and Michael Belcik, a sophomore wide receiver in the fall.

As Pelini praised Gump, he indicated that he anticipates more local players joining in February.

“He’s a big, physical kid,” Pelini said. “Tough, all about football. He represents this area really well, as far as what he brings to the table, and we’ll add some other local kids that we’re also talking to that’ll probably join our team as preferred walk-ons, that type of thing.”

Gump was one of seven offensive linemen on the signing-day list as YSU attempts to fill an area that has been decimated by graduation the last two years. Two of the linemen (Stephon Jones and James Morrow) were junior college transfers as the Penguins may be looking for them to take over right away after four starters graduated.

There were also four defensive linemen, four defensive backs, three linebackers, two tailbacks, one wide receiver, one fullback and a long-snapper on the 23-man list. Pelini said he has a better feel for how to build the roster now that he has spent five years at FCS level.

“We only got 63 scholarships to work with to sign 85 guys, so it’s like having a salary cap,” said Pelini, who gave much of the credit for this class to his brother, Carl, who has worked as the recruiting coordinator. “There’s a lot that plays into it, and lets face it, I wasn’t at this level (before). I was working at the full-scholarship level, so it takes a little bit of time for me to figure out that it’s a balancing act, and this is the best way to balance it.”

Pelini also touched on a few other topics.

Maybe the most important one was the return of defensive end Justus Reed. A senior in the fall, Reed will be in his seventh season of college football after several injuries resulted in two extra years of eligibility granted by the NCAA. Pelini said Reed, who led YSU and was tied for first in the conference with 12.5 sacks this year, considered leaving for the NFL Draft but instead chose to return.

Pelini also said some players will not be returning next year, but he did not specify which ones. He added that he has not yet evaluated the coaching staff to determine who may not be back in 2020 because his time was devoted to recruiting.

“I told you there were going to be some changes,” he said. “… We’re building for the present and the future, and there are just some kids that it was just time to move on from.”