Scott Venick enters his second season as Waynesburg’s defensive coordinator. Venick joined the Yellow Jacket staff in the summer of 2006 following a two-year stint at nearby Washington & Jefferson.
Venick made an immediate impact in his first year at Waynesburg, taking over a youthful Yellow Jacket defense. Using a version of the 3-4 defense, Venick’s unit ranked among the national leaders in total defense (274.1 yards per game), rushing defense (107.7 yards per game) and sacks (2.5 per game).
Waynesburg’s most dominating defensive performance came against Shenandoah as the Yellow Jackets limited the Hornets to 119 yards of total offense and only four first downs. In the first half, the Hornets only mustered 25 yards of offense and managed only one first down in the first two quarters.
Over the final seven games of the season, the Venick-led defense allowed just 98.7 rushing yards per game and collected 18 sacks. In each of the final two games, the Yellow Jackets forced four turnovers to finsh the season with 21 takeaways.
Behind All-American defensive end Mike Czerwien, Waynesburg led the conference with 25 total sacks. Czerwien ranked among the top 20 in the nation in both sacks (1.1 sacks per game) and tackles for loss (1.9 tackles per game).
Prior to his time at Waynesburg, Venick served as W&J’s defensive backs coach, helping guide the Presidents to back-to-back appearances in the NCAA Division III playoffs and a conference championship.
In his first season with the Presidents, he coached a W&J secondary that recorded 27 interceptions, led by two-time All-American safety Frank Pilato. Pilato along with the rest of the secondary, were pivotal in the Presidents’ record-setting 2004 season, as the team set a single-season school record with 12 victories and advanced to the NCAA Division III quarterfinals.
Venick got his start in coaching in 1992, serving as defensive coordinator for Jefferson-Morgan, his alma mater, for five seasons. From there he coached the defense at Ringgold for three seasons before taking the head coaching position of the Rams in 2000. In two seasons as head coach, he guided Ringgold to an 11-3 conference record, including the Quad West Conference Championship.
As a player, Venick was a free safety at Salem College. Venick is a 1992 graduate of Waynesburg. He and his wife, Julie, have three daughters, Emily, Kaylin and Riley.
