FARGO — The plan for Doug Phillips when he took over the Youngstown State football program six years ago was to build using primarily high school recruits and develop them over a period of time. What Phillips wasn’t counting on was the development of the transfer portal.

It’s reared its ugly head with the Penguins in the last couple of years.

“Sometimes you gotta get knocked in the face, we’re all trying to figure this out, the new world we live in with NIL and the portal,” Phillips said. “Managing a roster. I feel really good where we’re at right now.”

The last six months have been an improvement, with the Penguins not losing a starter to the portal. Holding leads this season will be another improvement, with Youngstown not being able to close a few winnable games last year.

The Pengu

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