NCAA, Youngstown State agree to violations under Bo Pelini

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — Youngstown State football was placed on probation for two years and hit with recruiting sanctions by the NCAA on Tuesday after the school and the association agreed several rules violations were committed under former coach Bo Pelini.

Using the NCAA’s negotiated resolution process, the school agreed it failed to monitor its football program when it permitted three staff members to recruit off campus without completing the coaches’ certification test for 2019-20 academic year.

An assistant coach also was found to have recruited a player at a Division II school without knowing he was not in the transfer portal and without notifying the player’s school.

The report does not specifically mention Pelini, who was coach at Youngstown from 2015-19, but it refers to the former head coach who left to become a defensive coordinator at another school. The former Nebraska head coach was the defensive coordinator at LSU until last December.

Youngstown State found Pelini and two assistants had not taken the certification test required for off-campus recruiting. That resulted in impermissible contacts with 16 prospects and impermissible evaluations of two more.

In addition to probation, Youngstown State was stripped of three official visits during the 2021-22 academic year, given a two-week ban on unofficial visits and all recruiting communication and had its evaluation days reduced by three.

The assistant football coach who improperly recruited the Division II transfer was suspended from all coaching duties during three preseason football dates and banned from recruiting activities from Feb. 13-26.