Eastern Kentucky coach Dean Hood noticed in the spring that transfer defensive end Noah Spence was going to present management challenges.
Spence arrived in January from Ohio State after being declared ineligible by the Big Ten after two positive tests for the street drug Ecstasy. That was something Hood and his staff could monitor through testing, and the coach said there has been no problem.
The management challenge was on the field. Spence was once a five-star prospect out of Harrisburg, Pa., one of the prizes of Urban Meyer’s first recruiting class at Ohio State in 2012.