Emmanuel Kromah (93) celebrates after a tackle during a game against Duquesne on September 21.
Hamilton West graduate Emmanuel Kromah steps up to Youngstown State University football team’s defensive line
The Youngstown State University football team entered this season wondering about its defensive line, which lost all four starters.
Hamilton West graduate Emmanuel Kromah was wondering just how he might make that beneficial to himself.
“Not only was it an opportunity for me, but also the other young D-lineman,” the tackle said. “It’s always tough replacing starters, no matter what position, but with hard work and dedication I feel like we have done a good job.”
Kromah took advantage of the opportunity and earned a starting spot in his redshirt sophomore season. He is now a key component on a team that won six of its first seven games and was ranked No. 15 in the Oct. 14 Football Championship Subdivision poll.
The Penguins were being led by their offense, but the defense was holding opponents low enough to keep Youngstown State winning.
“We on the line, along with the defense as a whole, have grown,” Kromah said. “We try our best to learn from the mistakes made in the previous games and eliminate them.”
At Hamilton, Kromah was named second-team All-Group III as an offensive lineman and was the Colonial Valley Conference’s Lineman of the Year, receiving the Falzone Memorial Award from the 12th-Man TD Club. He played both ways on the line, and helped West to an 8-3 record and berth in the Central Jersey Group III playoffs his senior year of 2010.
When he arrived in Ohio in the summer of 2011, Emmanuel was redshirted. During that year, he was named Scout Team Defensive Player of the Week two times in preparing for games with Michigan State and Indiana State.
That first year, he was moved from defensive end, where he played for the Hornets, to defensive tackle. Suddenly, he wasn’t flying off the edge to nail the quarterback in front of an adoring crowd, but deep in the trenches grinding away, much to his surprise.
“All the older guys told me it was going to happen, but I refused to listen, until my coach threw me inside … the rest is history,” he said with a laugh. “As time passed, I understood that if I wanted to play, tackle was my best chance. So instead of becoming discouraged, I accepted the challenge.”
That challenge included a major transition in body weight. Kromah arrived at Youngstown weighing 245 pounds.
“At the time I started out, our D tackles averaged out at 275,” he said. “So through our strength and conditioning program, I was able to bulk up and gain the 30 pounds that were necessary.”
Kromah now stands at 6-feet-2-inches and 280 pounds but his advancement as tackle had more to do than physical improvement. He needed some adjustment time.
“I’m more than grateful that YSU gave me the opportunity of redshirting,” he said. “The extra year allowed me to develop physically, adjust to the speed of the game and also learn the defense.
“What a lot of people fail to realize is, with the extra year I also have the chance of earning a master’s degree. So overall I am very thankful.”
The one thing he did not have to adjust to was the fact he was going against other blockers, just like he did at Hamilton.
“Nothing really changed in that respect, honestly,” Kromah said. “Playing D line requires great hands, low pad level, good footwork, and physicality. Those are all things I needed to work on and still need to work on.”
Last season, Kromah played in all 11 games as a reserve and also blocked on punt returns. He had three tackles, including two sacks for 15 yards and earned his first varsity letter.
“Each year I have been at YSU, it has been a growing year,” he said. “That’s exactly my perspective on last year.”
This season, through seven games, he was 11th on the team in tackles with 16, including nine solo. He had 2-1/2 tackles for losses, two sacks for a total of 12 yards in losses and five quarterback hurries, which led the team at the time.
But statistics do not tell the value of Kromah, if he’s doing his job correctly in Youngstown’s 4-3 scheme with four down linemen.
“My job is to maintain my gap and occupy as many linemen as possible so the linebackers can scrap over and chase the ball down,” he said. “At the same time, if I do burst through the line, the goal is to cause chaos.”
Despite the fact he is getting beat up more and maybe getting less chance to make tackles, Kromah has developed the right attitude for his new position.
“As a DT you have to embrace the trenches,” he said. “Each play is like a bar fight. If you don’t handle your business then you will get handled. Simple as that.”
Only Michigan State handled the Penguins in their first seven games, leading to their No. 15 ranking.
“In all honesty, we try our best not to pay attention to any of the rankings,” Kromah said. “One of our mottos is ‘One game at a time.’”
Despite the fact he has become a starter as a sophomore, Kromah bristles at the suggestion that he is where he wants to be.
“Absolutely not,” he said. “Besides my coaches, I am my toughest critic.
“I still have two years left at Youngstown State, and I want to get better each and every day, week, month, year and season. I’m thankful for where I am at in (this stage of) my career, but I still have not reached my goals.”
And while he feels going from defensive end to defensive tackle didn’t require major changes on the field, things are a little different off it. He now lives in the Midwest, where the pace and environment is definitely un-Jersey-like.
“I must admit, Ohio is pretty country,” he said with a laugh. “I’m a kid from Central Jersey. I’m not used to corn fields, country music and backyard carnivals.
“But I have grown accustomed to my surroundings. One thing I will admit is that they have deep passion for football up here compared to Jersey.”
The kind of passion Kromah possesses when he’s loving life in the trenches.
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