Gerberry recalls history with Youngstown State ahead of home opener
Saturday’s home opener in Morgantown may have a different feel for West Virginia tight ends coach Dan Gerberry.
Not only is Gerberry making his home debut as a full-time assistant coach for the Mountaineers, but the 32-year old will also be facing his childhood team in Youngstown State.
Gerberry was born and raised in Youngstown, Ohio and grew up watching the Penguins during the program’s golden era in the late 1980’s and 1990’s.
During this decade, College Football Hall of Fame coach Jim Tressel, who coached for Ohio State following his tenure with the Penguins and currently serves as the university president at Youngstown State, built the program into a national FCS power, racking up a 135-57-2 record in 15 seasons with the Penguins which included four national titles.
“I grew up in Youngstown in the 90’s when Jim Tressel had the program rolling and I used to go to all the games,” Gerberry said. “It was a big deal, back home it was the team.”
Gerberry saw the program evolve and was drawn closer to the university and program through his family. Although he would eventually end up playing college football at Ball State under Brady Hoke out of Austintown Fitch High School, Youngstown State was originally his first choice.
“I’d say the city in general is a special place to my heart. That’s obviously where I’m from. My mom, my dad, my brother all graduated from there,” Gerberry said. “That’s where I wanted to go to college after high school. It’s absolutely a special place.”
Following stints with the Detroit Lions and Jacksonville Jaguars as an offensive lineman, it was his hometown team that would provide Gerberry with his first coaching opportunity.
After he was released by the Jaguars in 2013, Gerberry became a volunteer for the Penguins, serving as the offensive quality control coach. Following that season, he was hired to a full-time position, coaching tight ends and fullbacks, replacing former Kansas head coach Mark Mangino, who went on to become the offensive coordinator and tight ends coach at Iowa State.
These opportunities came at the right time for Gerberry who was adjusting to life after the NFL.
“It was the perfect job at the right time. (In) the NFL, you were constantly in and out of places, hotels, living situations,” Gerberry said. “I went home, got married during that break, during that year and it was really just a year to get stabilized and then after the season, the whole staff was fired and that gave me the opportunity to come here.”
After Eric Wohlford and his staff were let go after the 2014 season, Gerberry wound up in Morgantown in 2015 as an offensive graduate assistant and the assistant tight ends and fullbacks coach.
Following a year-log stint with Pittsburgh as an offensive graduate assistant and the assistant tight ends and offensive line coach, Gerberry returned to West Virginia as a senior football analyst and then received his first full-time coaching position at the FBS level prior to this season and now serves as the head tight ends and fullbacks coach.
Despite his tenure at Youngstown State not having a happy ending, he’s remains thankful for those opportunities as they eventually led him to his current position with the Mountaineers.
“It was a really enjoyable time for me,” Gerberry said. “We moved on, it was a tough time, but it worked out for the best. It led me to this opportunity.”
Gerberry still keeps in contact with numerous people at Youngstown State, some of whom he’ll see again come Saturday such as linebackers coach Sean Baker, who was teammates with Gerberry at Ball State. Bo Pelini’s older brother, Carl, who is in his first season as Bowling Green’s defensive coordinator, served as Gerberry’s head coach at Austintown Fitch.
“It’s a program that has great history, great tradition. It’s also a place with a great coaching staff with great people on it,” Gerberry said. “It definitely is a little bit different for me.”
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