By Matt Smith
SouthernPigskin.com

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For those that grew up there and chased their dreams in the world of football, the life lessons learned in their hometown are carried with them forever.

Yes, college football was first played in New Jersey in 1869. However, many of the roots of the sport can be traced to the state of Ohio.

Youngstown, Ohio, isnt a destination city. In fact, its lost a good chunk of its population to destination cities through the years. Its cold. Its hard. Its somewhat dull. But for those that grew up there and chased their dreams in the world of football, the life lessons learned in their hometown are carried with them forever.

Lexington, Kentucky, sits about five hours southwest of Youngstown, but Northeast Ohio is well-represented in the capital of the Bluegrass State, notably within the University of Kentucky football program.

Fourth-year head coach Mark Stoops is a Youngstown native, an alumnus of noted power Cardinal Mooney, a prestigious private school that won eight state championships between 1973 and 2011. Stoops was part of the 1982 state title team, sparking a long career that included playing at Iowa, winning a national title as an assistant at Miami (FL) and ultimately getting the Wildcats head-coaching job in December 2012.

Three current Wildcats also attended Cardinal Mooney, the most notable being linebacker Courtney Love. Stoops connections there obviously help draw kids from football-mad Ohio to the SEC, but Love took a different path to Lexington 3 one which Stoops actually approved years before Love ever set foot on the Kentucky campus.

cWe have a foundation at Cardinal Mooney where my family helps kids,d Stoops said Wednesday at SEC Media Days. cWe help support them to go to school there. They get a scholarship. We have a banquet every year, and the year I go to speak at this banquet in Youngstown, Courtney was the student that represented all the recipients of that scholarship that year and got up and spoke.d

Stoops immediately recognized was a special young man simply by the words he delivered to the attendees that night.

cThat was the first time I heard him talk and I was blown away,d Stoops recalled. cI had to follow him with his speech. It might be a recruiting violation but I was like 8Holy, Moly. Youve got three options. You can go to Florida State 3 thats where I was at this time. You can go to Oklahoma or Nebraska. Thats where Bo Pelini, a Youngstown guy, and my brother and myself were at.d

Love ultimately heeded Stoops advice, signing with Nebraska and Pelini, a former teammate of Stoops at Cardinal Mooney. After a redshirt year and a solid freshman season for Love, Pelini was fired in November 2014.

Love decided to transfer. When searching for a new home, he couldnt ignore his connections to Youngstown. Thats why Kentucky was the perfect place for Love to resume his college career.

cI take a lot of pride in being from Youngstown,d Love said. cIts northeast Ohio. Its a tough place to grow up. Most people are hard-working people with the steel mills and things like that. Being able to grow up in such a tough environment and make it out of there and coming to a Division I program like the University of Kentucky and being [at SEC Media Days] today is a blessing.d

Recruiting is all about building relationships, and Stoops was fortunate enough to be one of the first coaches to develop one with Love.

cIt goes back a long way with him,d Stoops said. cIve known him for a long time. I watched him come to a youth camp that we had at Cardinal Mooney and decide to go to Cardinal Mooney.d

After sitting out last season due to NCAA transfer rules, Love received the rare honor of attending SEC Media Days without ever having played a game for the Wildcats. Hell be a starting linebacker this fall for a Kentucky team that admittedly needs to get tougher, particularly in the second half of the season when the team has faded each of the past two seasons.

Stoops knows that if his team faces a similar situation this fall, he can call on Love to ensure the team keeps their nose to the grind and avoid a repeat of 2014 and 2015.

cHes just an incredible kid,d Stoops said. cVery hard-working guy. Comes from a very tough blue-collar neighborhood but has done extremely well for himself. Handles himself the right way. Hes a guy that you would trust in any situation. I believe that. I just know him and know where hes from. I know what he stands for. Hes a great young man. Hes going to have a bright future in whatever direction he decides to go.d

Stoops inherited one of the most difficult jobs in the SEC with little tradition of success. Love went four states away for college, saw his coach be dismissed, and then couldnt play football at all for a season. Neither situation may seem ideal, but its what theyre used to.

After all, theyre Youngstown guys.