Ron Strollo

     Executive Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Ron Strollo, a former Penguin student-athlete, has worked diligently to ensure that today’s student-athletes have the support system in place to not only succeed at Youngstown State, but in their future as well by implementing programs to shape the total person.
    Now in his eighth year as Athletics Director and 13th as a member of the department, his vision for successful broad-based programs and providing student-athletes the necessary tools to succeed on-and-off the playing fields is coming to fruition.
    Strollo has concentrated his priorities on facility improvements; full compliance of NCAA rules and regulations; fiscal management and sound budgetary maintenance; functioning and streamlining department organization; increasing visibility of the Penguin Club while also expanding the overall fundraising efforts; all while enhancing the overall experience and competitiveness of all student-athletes and programs.
    Under Strollo’s leadership, Youngstown State athletics earned full NCAA certification in the spring of 2007. This review of governance and commitment to rules, academic integrity, and equity and student-athlete well-being reinforced Youngstown State University athletics operates in substantial conformity with the operating principles adopted by the NCAA Division I membership.
    This past spring, Strollo reorganized senior administrative functions and enhanced support staff personnel. In 2007, he realigned the external relations area of the department in an effort create more revenue streams and increase customer satisfaction while also solidifying internal operations.
    During his tenure, Strollo has placed a priority on the construction and enhancements of athletic venues. Projects in the Beeghly Center and Stambaugh Stadium have provided student-athletes, coaches and staff with state-of-the-art facilities. Currently, he is leading a capital campaign to construct the Watson and Tressel Training Site (WATTS), a $7-10 million indoor athletic practice facility.
    The Beeghly Center (home of the men’s and women’s basketball, swimming and diving, and volleyball programs) has undergone more than $3 million in renovations. In the summer of 2008, a new Dom Rosselli Court was installed. Also, a new Beeghly Center weight room was built for the men’s and women’s basketball, volleyball and swimming and diving programs during the fall of 2007. The “Coaches’ Court”, constructed utilizing externally raised funds, continues to serve as a host to Penguin Club Courtside Coach members during the basketball season and a recruiting and meeting room for all sports. The Olympic Sports coaches’ offices and conference room were refurbished. In addition, a basketball office suite and significant renovations to the Beeghly Center pool were completed.
    In Stambaugh Stadium (home of the football and soccer programs) the following visual upgrades have occurred over the past five years: enhanced office space in the athletic marketing and ticket offices and the football suite (2008), renovated weight room and athletic training offices (2008), a new concourse-level elevator (2005), a new scoreboard, including a Mitsubishi DiamondVision videoboard (2004) and a state-of-the-art synthetic field, SprinTurf (2002). Renovations to locker rooms, a major painting and hallway improvement project were completed and the entrance to the football suite underwent major renovations.
    To improve game-day media operations, wireless internet access was installed for the 2006-07 season in both the Watson Sports Media Center in Stambaugh Stadium and on press row in the Beeghly Center.
    He has also secured agreements with Eastwood Field, the home of the Mahoning Valley Scrappers and single-A affiliate of the Cleveland Indians, and Cene Park as the home parks for the baseball team and McCune Park to serve as the softball team’s home venue.
    Thanks to the benevolence of the Andrews Trust and the priority Strollo places on academics, the academic counseling center underwent a significant renovation and expansion in his first year.
    In the past seven years, the Athletic Department, which has been recognized as a national leader for its graduation rates, had many successes on and off the playing field.
    Of the current 300-plus student-athletes, more than half have a cumulative grade-point average of 3.0 or better while 11 teams have an overall grade-point average of at least 3.0. YSU’s Academic Progress Rate is well above the national average for public institutions and its graduation rate of 93 percent is at an all-time high.
    Six student-athletes have captured Academic All-America accolades while a total of 31 were named to Academic All-District teams.
    As a member of the nationally-competitive Horizon League, YSU has won a total of 11 League titles and back-to-back Gateway Football Conference (now Missouri Valley Football Conference) championships in 2005 and 2006 under his leadership.
    The 2008 women’s track and field team swept the Horizon League indoor and outdoor track and field championships for the third time in the last five years.
    In 2006, the football program also returned to the Division I FCS Playoffs, advancing to the national semifinals and finishing the campaign with an 11-3 record and a No. 4 final ranking – the highest since 1999.
    The softball team won their first Horizon League Tournament Championship advancing to the NCAA Regional Tournament. During the same weekend, the women’s outdoor track and field team won its third straight league title.
    In 2004, the baseball team hosted the Horizon League tournament at Eastwood Field on its way to its first Horizon League championship and berth to the NCAA Regional Tournament.
    In his role as the Executive Director of the Penguin Club, the organization has increased athletic scholarship contributions annually and the athletic endowment has more than doubled during his tenure. Annual events such as the Scholarship Ring Dinner and Penguin Club Bill Dailey Golf Outing keep growing every year. Also, the growth of the Football Alumni Club has had a positive impact on the department.
    Outside of YSU, Strollo represents the Horizon League and Missouri Valley Football Conference on various NCAA committees. He just completed a four-year term representing the Horizon League on the NCAA Championship and Competition Committee. He also represents the Missouri Valley on the FCS Athletics Director’s Executive Committee and the Football Regional Rankings Committee.
    Strollo returned to his alma mater in 1996 as athletic business manager. In March 2000, he was named the school’s Associate Executive Director of Athletics. In his short time in that capacity, he helped spearhead the transition into the Horizon League.             
    Before joining the athletic department, Strollo spent three years as an accountant for Hill, Barth, & King, Inc. in Youngstown while successfully attaining his CPA certification.
    He has strong ties to the local community and to the athletic department. He grew up in nearby Austintown and attended Fitch High School. He played football for YSU from 1988 through 1991 for Coach Jim Tressel and was named captain of the first Division I-AA National Championship team in 1991. He earned his bachelor’s degree in accounting from Youngstown State in June, 1993.
    Ron and his wife, Nicole, who is an OB/GYN nurse practitioner, reside in Austintown with their two children, Ryan and Rachel. Nicole is a former YSU student-athlete who competed in track and cross country from 1989 through 1993.

Youngstown State Athletic Directors
2001-Present - Ron Strollo
1994-2001 - Jim Tressel
1983-1994 - Joe Malmisur
1980-1983 - Bill Narduzzi
1975-1980 - Paul Amodio
1945-1974 - Willard Webster
1939-1944 - Kenneth James
1936-1938 - Castle W. Foard
1930-1936 - Jack McPhee
1927-1930 - Al Fairfield