Bethel Park QB Max Blanc plans for college career at Youngstown State

By: Ray Fisher
Saturday, August 28, 2021 | 11:01 AM

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Max Blanc is a student of the game, particularly at the quarterback position.

Blanc is a 6-foot-5, 210-pound strong-armed signal caller at Bethel Park who also plays linebacker. He studies, learns, then executes the Black Hawks’ game-plan to the best of his intellectual abilities.

“His football IQ is better than any high school quarterback with whom I have ever worked,” Bethel Park coach Brian DeLallo said, “so we ask a lot of him. We believe he is going to have a great season.”

Following his 2021-22 senior year, Blanc will carry on his ever-growing academic and athletic careers Youngstown State.

Blanc recently offered a verbal commitment to play for the Penguins, who are coached by Doug Phillips and are members of the Division I Missouri Valley Football Conference.

Along with YSU, the conference consists of Western Illinois, UNI, Missouri State, Indiana State, South Dakota State, North Dakota, North Dakota State and Southern Illinois.

“A few schools started to contact me this spring, including Yale, Lehigh, New Hampshire, Brown and Youngstown State,” Blanc said. “Most of my communications were through Twitter. However, the YSU coaches always made it a point to try to communicate with me through Facetime.

“This led to an invitation to a camp and an individual workout, where I was able to meet the coaching staff and players. They took the time to get to know me not only as a player, but as a person. They made me feel like family. It just felt right, not only for me but also for my parents.”

Speaking of his parents, Blanc’s mother and father, Julie and Brian, naturally were big influences in his college decision.

“My dad dedicated most of his summer to travel with me around the Eastern part of the United States, visiting football camps that had shown interest in me,” Blanc said. “We traveled as far east as Yale, while also going to Pitt, WVU, Marshall, Kentucky and Lehigh. I was able to learn a lot at each of these camps, but nothing compared to the experience I had at YSU.

“They have a newer coaching staff that is trying to build a program around commitment, hard work and character. After my third visit, I was hooked. It feels like the perfect fit for me.”

Blanc carries a 4.2 GPA and will study kinesiology at Youngstown State. He also will become a dedicated student of the Penguins’ playbook. YSU has eight quarterbacks listed on its team roster.

“I know I need to learn their system, and get in the weight room to get stronger and faster,” Blanc said. “They have some older guys that I can learn from and hopefully in a year or two get some playing time.”

Blanc already has begun that process in anticipation of the fall season at Bethel Park. In his first year as a starter, he connected on 49 of 92 passes for 436 yards last season.

“I have been working with my team in the weight room,” Blanc said. “Coach DeLallo and coach (Phil) Peckich put together programs for each of us to lift and train to make substantial gains in the offseason. It was something our team was missing in the 2020 season.

“We had a tough go of it last season, and that has fueled our hard work in the offseason.”

Blanc also plays basketball and throws the javelin on the track team. And he is one of the leaders of the Principal Advisory Council at the high school.

“In the summer, I spend as much time as I can working with kids at Camp Aim, which is a camp for kids with exceptionalities and sponsored by Spencer YMCA,” Blanc said. “My parents have worked there my entire life, and I just love the kids there.”

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