Youngstown State University Football Camps

Football Support Staff

Rollen Smith
Assistant Director of Football Operations

Rollen Smith, a mentor of young men and community leader, is in his sixth year with the Youngstown State Athletic Department.

Smith, who has been assistant coach for the Penguins and worked with the strength and conditioning staff, now is an assistant Director of Football Operations.

After spending his first two years at YSU as a member of the football coaching staff he moved into a role as an Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach. For four years, Smith helped coordinate the strength and speed training for the football program and worked with other Penguins athletic teams.

In 2011, he worked with a group of eager cornerbacks in a ever-changing secondary. The Penguins had two freshmen starters at most times during the season with three corners missing the campaign because of injuries. YSU posted a 6-5 mark, including a win over top-ranked North Dakota State in November.

In 2010, Smith worked with the Penguins' defensive line. During the season, he helped coach second-team All-Missouri Valley Football Conference defensive tackle Torrance Nicholson.

A Youngstown native, Smith was an assistant high school coach in Youngstown from 1980 until he joined the YSU staff in January 2010. He was at Youngstown South from 1980 through 1988 and spent the next 20 seasons as an assistant under five different head coaches for the Ursuline Irish. At Ursuline he coached the running backs and cornerbacks while also handling the strength and conditioning duties for the program.

In his final two years, Ursuline won the state's Division V Championship. The Irish were a perfect 15-0 in 2008 and went 11-3 in 2009. He was also a member of the staff in 2000 when the Irish won the Division IV crown posting a 14-1 mark. While with the program, he coached for Dick Angle, Scott Niedzwicki, Jim Vivo, Dan Murphy and Dan Reardon. Ursuline qualified for the state playoffs 13 times during his tenure.

He has worked at the Martin P. Joyce Juvenile Justice Center since 1983 where he has been a group leader, supervisor, behavior specialist and director of programming. He is also a prevention specialist for the Mahoning County Chemical Dependency Program of Youngstown.

Smith has served on the Mahoning County area AIDS task force since 1988, been a volunteer at the Boys & Girls Club of Youngstown since 1988 and been on the Mahoning Valley task force against crime since 1990.

He has been involved with the Mahoning County Joint Vocational School, the Mahoning County Chemical Dependency Program, served as a case worker in Community Corrections and worked as a teacher and mentor at the Tod Vocational School.

Smith was a standout defensive back in his two seasons with Arkansas. As a junior, he was a first-team All-Southwest Conference selection for coach Frank Broyles. He was a team captain in 1974 and following the season, played, in the Blue-Gray All-Star Classic.

He was a sixth-round draft choice by the Cincinnati Bengals in 1975 and later signed with the St. Louis Cardinals before returning to Youngstown in 1980.

He earned his degree from Arkansas in 1976 after earning an associates degree from Garden City Community College in 1973. A Youngstown native, he graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School.

Smith has two sons, Rollen III, and Trevor.

Mark Preto
Football Video Coordinator

Mark Preto, a native of Cleveland, is in his first season as the video coordinator for the Youngstown State football program.

Preto spent 12 years as a video operations assistant with the San Francisco 49ers. Overall he worked in the NFL for 17 years before joining the YSU staff in August.

Preto joined the 49ers after serving in the same capacity for the Tennessee Titans from 1999-04.

Preto was part of three PAC 12 football video departments before moving on to the NFL in 1999.

He was the video coordinator at Oregon State during the 1998 season after spending the 1995-98 campaigns in the same capacity at Southern Cal when the Trojans captured the 1996 Rose Bowl title.

From 1991-95, Preto served on the video staff at Oregon where he made his first trip to the Rose Bowl. During that span, he spent the 2002 summer as an intern in the Cleveland Browns video department.

Preto began his career in sports video at his alma mater, the University of Akron, where he was the video director in 1990 after playing on the Zips football team from 1985-90.

He earned his bachelor’s degrees in accounting and finance from Akron in 1990.

Preto graduated from Benedictine High School where he played football and wrestled.

Travis Tislaretz
Offense Volunteer Assistant

Travis Tislaretz is in his second year with the YSU football program as an undergraduate assistant coach.

Tislaretz helps the offense handling various duties for Offensive Coordinator Shane Montgomery and offensive line coach Carmen Bricillo. He assists in opponent scouting breakdowns and works with the defensive scout team during the season.

The Pennsylvania native is a graduate of Central Valley High School. He was a two-year starter at center for Central Valley High School. He was a first-team Class AAA Parkway selection as a senior by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in 2011.

Prior to coming to YSU he attended Robert Morris University in Moon Township, Pa.

Chris Marsco
Defense Volunteer Assistant

Chris Marsco is in his first year with the YSU Football Program as a Defensive undergraduate assistant.

Marsco will help the defense with various duties for Co-Defensice Coordinators Ron Stoops and Carl Pelini. He will also help with the linebackers coach T.J. Hollowell.

During the season, Marsco will assist in opponent scouting breakdowns and work with the offensive scout team for the Penguins.

The Trumbull County native is a graduate of Lakeview High School. He played football for the Bulldogs under Coach Tom Pavlansky, where he played on the offensive line in addition to linebacker.

Growing up, Marsco was the team manager on former Mahoning Valley native, Dick Angle’s Howland High School teams.

Prior to joining YSU, Marsco attended Ohio University, where he maintained a 3.8 GPA.

Seth Antram
Offense Volunteer Assitant

Seth Antram is in his first season with the YSU football program as a volunteer. Antram will workt with Offensive Coordinator Shane Montgomery and his staff.

The Mahoning Valley native is a 2002 graduate of Crestview High School. While at Crestview he played both quarterback and wide receiver.

Antram graduated from Youngstown State in 2008 with a degree in physical education.

Antram taught physical education, health, and weight training at Jacksonville High School in Jacksonville, N.C., from 2008-15. While at Jacksonville High School, he coached quarterbacks and wide receivers for all seven seasons and served as Co-Offensive Coordinator from 2010-14.

Nico Mancuso
Offense Volunteer Assitant

Nico Mancuso is in his first year with the YSU football program as an offensive and special teams volunteer. Mancuso will work tight ends coach Kyle Brey in weekly preparation on both offense and special teams.

Mancuso graduated as valedictorian from Austintown Fitch High School in 2009. He was a three-year letterwinner, two-year starter and team captain for the Falcons.

Mancuso was a University Scholar at Youngstown State where he graduated summa cum laude with an honors diploma in education/integrated mathematics in 2013.

Mancuso is currently a mathematics teacher at Fitch High School, where he previously coached outside linebackers and tight ends from 2011-14 for Phil Annarella.

Mark Brandenstein
Head Strength & Conditioning Coach

Mark Brandenstein is in his first year as the football program's strength and conditioning coordinator at Youngstown State.

Brandenstein assisted Head Strength & Conditioning Coordinator Ben Iannacchione during the 2015 football season before joining the Penguins on a full-time basis in January 2016.

A Youngstown native, Brandenstein was a member of the YSU football program in 2010 before becoming a student assistant in the strength and conditioning department for Mike Cochran. Brandenstein assisted Cochran with the football program's workouts from 2011-14 while also serving as a personal trainer.

He interned with Kansas State during the spring of 2014 and at Ohio State during the summer of 2014. At both places he worked primarily with the football program.

He played in 11 games for the Penguins on special teams and as a reserve on defense in 2010. Brandenstein recorded 13 tackles, including nine solo stops during the campaign.

He earned his degree from Youngstown State in Exercise Science in August 2014.

A graduate of Cardinal Mooney High School, he was a standout football player for the Cardinals. He was a first-team All-Ohio Division III linebacker as a senior as Mooney posted a 15-0 mark and won the Ohio Division III State Championship.

CJ Jasper
Assistant Strength & Conditioning Coach

CJ Jasper is in his first year with the Penguins as an assistant strength and conditioning coach. Jasper will assist Mark Brandenstein in working with the YSU football team.

Jasper comes to Youngstown State after spending the past year as a graduate assistant at Morehead State. He designed and coordinated the strength and conditioning programs for the baseball, softball and track and field programs. He also assisted with football, women's basketball soccer and volleyball during his time with the Eagles.

In 2015 he also spent time as a strength and conditioning coach in the New York Mets Minor League system. He created and managed daily workout schedules throughout the season.

Previously he has been an intern at Robert Morris and Ohio State. Prior to his two internships he worked with the women's basketball program at Slippery Rock while he completed his degree.

He earned a bachelor's in Exercise Science from Slippery Rock in 2014.

Jasper, a native of Beaver Falls, Pa., is a certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist.