YOUNGSTOWN, OH - Youngstown State officially introduced their new head football coach Tuesday afternoon.  YSU President Dr. David C. Sweet introduced 38-year-old Eric Wolford, a graduate of Ursuline High School, as the sixth head coach in Youngstown State history.

Sports Director Dana Balash spoke to a half dozen people who know Eric Wolford and the one common theme was that Wolford is "a great communicator" and has a strong work ethic.

Wolford inherits a program that has been to the playoffs only once in the past nine seasons.  His number one priority is to recruit locally and bring the winning tradition back to Youngstown State.  Wolford knows that will take some time and he welcomes the challenge of turning the program around.

At Tuesday's press conference Wolford said "My hair is on fire right now. I can't wait till tomorrow morning.  Youngstown doesn't know what they got yet, because we're going to recruit like it hasn't been done in a long time."

YSU Athletic Director Ron Strollo said it was "important to bring someone home."  Strollo said that Wolford's passion for the job is "extraordinary" and his ability to recruit was apparent after talking to local high school coaches and other coaches through northeast Ohio.

Wolford spent the 2009 season as the running-game coordinator and offensive line coach at South Carolina. The Gamecocks posted a 7-5 mark this past year and will make an appearance in the PapaJohns.com Bowl on Jan. 2 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 previous campaign. During the campaign, he had four members of his offensive line make their first career starts. Overall, 10 different players started at least one contest up front, while three started at multiple positions. After joining the staff in January, Wolford showed his talents helping the Gamecocks land the 13th-ranked recruiting class in the nation.

Wolford spent two seasons at Illinois (2007-08) with Zook before heading to South Carolina. In his two seasons with the Illini, his lines led the Big Ten Conference in rushing (2007) and passing (2008) yards per game. During his two years, Illinois ranked in the top 20 nationally in recruiting. Averaging 269.3 yards in the air, the Illini ranked first in the Big Ten in the category and 19th nationally in 2008. The team finished the season second in the conference in total offense with 438.8 yards per contest, which also ranked 19th in the NCAA. Illinois' total yards topped 5,000 for just the fourth time in school history and for the second consecutive year.

In 2007, Illinois finished with a 9-4 overall mark and represented the Big Ten in the Rose Bowl following a 6-2 league mark. His veteran unit led the offense to 3,338 rushing yards, the most in school history, and paved the way for running back Rashard Mendenhall's record-setting season. The Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year, Mendenhall broke school records for rushing yards, rushing touchdowns and total scores in a season.

Wolford served as an assistant coach at Arizona from 2004-06, North Texas in 2003, Houston from 2000-02, South Florida from 1996-99, Emporia State in 1995 and at Kansas State in 1994.

Strollo said that Wolford signed a five year contract that will pay him two-hundred thousand per year.