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 Ron Strollo
Athletic Director
Seventh Year
(Youngstown State, 1993)
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.
Now in his seventh year as Athletics Director and 12th
as a member of the department, his
vision for successful broad-based
programs and providing
student-athletes those 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 showed
Youngstown State University
athletics operates in substantial
conformity with the operating
principles adopted by the NCAA
Division I membership.
This past spring, Strollo
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. Most
recently, he spearheaded a capital
campaign to construct a $4-6 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. The
“Coaches’ Court”, constructed
utilizing externally raised funds,
continues to serve as a host to
Penguin Club members during the
basketball season and a recruiting
and meeting room for all sports. The
Olympic Sports coaches offices and
conference room was 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) since 2003 the following
visual upgrades have occurred: a new
concourse-level elevator (2005), a
new scoreboard, including a
Mitsubishi DiamondVision videoboard
(2004) and a state-of-the-art
synthetic field, SprinTurf (2003).
Renovations to current spaces such
as locker rooms, athletic training
room and weight room have also
occurred. A major painting and
hallway improvement project was
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 six years,
the Athletic Department, which has
been has recognized as a national
leader for its graduation rates, had
many successes on and off the
playing field.
Of the 300-plus
student-athletes, more than half
have a cumulative grade-point
average of 3.0 or better while 12
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 20 were
named to Academic All-District
teams.
As a member of the
nationally-competitive Horizon
League, YSU has won a total of nine
League titles and back-to-back
Gateway Football Conference
championships in 2005 and 2006 under
his leadership.
Last season, the Penguins
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.
In 2006, 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.
Since joining the Horizon
League, YSU has hosted the cross
country, baseball, indoor track and
field, softball and volleyball
Horizon League championships. In
fact, in 2004 and 2006, the baseball
and softball programs used the
momentum of hosting the championship
to win, reaching the NCAA Regionals
for the first time in school
history. Youngstown State is set to
serve as the host school for
baseball again in 2008.
Outside of his YSU
duties, Strollo has been busy
representing the University, Horizon
League and the Gateway on national
committees. He completed his third
of a four-year term on the NCAA
Division I Championships/Competition
Cabinet in 2006-07. This year, he
will continue to be a part of
Division I Football Championship
Subdivision Executive Committee. He
is currently a member of the Horizon
League’s men’s basketball committee
and has also provided assistance on
the finance committee, Television
committee (chair) and golf liaison.
In his role as the
Executive Director of the Penguin
Club, the organization has increased
athletic endowed scholarship
contributions annually. 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.
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. He was named the
school’s 11th athletic
director in 2001,
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.
A key volunteer in the
Stambaugh Stadium expansion project
in 1997, he is a member of the
Mahoning County American Red Cross
Board of Directors, the Salvation
Army Advisory Board, and the Western
Reserve Health Foundation.
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
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