Kirk Ciarocca taking OC job at Penn St

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I assume Simon and Patterson will be the internal candidates. Fleck new this day was coming from the day he took the MN job, I'm sure.
 

KC appears to have looking for an escape hatch for a while. We will do better with someone of equal talent that REALLY wants to be here. The job he did with 2 freshmen QBs and then with Morgan this year is a tough show to follow. Fleck will succeed with this hire. Our "interim" OC for the bowl game will tell us a lot. I'm not losing sleep. Looking ahead.
 

ROCK said:
KC appears to have looking for an escape hatch for a while. We will do better with someone of equal talent that REALLY wants to be here. The job he did with 2 freshmen QBs and then with Morgan this year is a tough show to follow. Fleck will succeed with this hire. Our "interim" OC for the bowl game will tell us a lot. I'm not losing sleep. Looking ahead.
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Saw an article that he followed Fleck because he believed in him to Western & MN. He had never been outside a 3 state area of PA, NJ, DE prior to that. He helped Fleck get a great HC career start and I'm sure Fleck is grateful for it.
 


Ciarocca is originally from PA, so can’t fault the guy for heading back home. Hope we give Simon a shot as interim. In the meantime, we should be taking a hard look at high octane offenses in the G5.
 

MaxyJR1 said:
Saw an article that he followed Fleck because he believed in him to Western & MN. He had never been outside a 3 state area of PA, NJ, DE prior to that. He helped Fleck get a great HC career start and I'm sure Fleck is grateful for it.
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Yeah. If you’re a PA guy it is hard to believe OC at PSU isn’t a dream job. If the offense looks good next year and Franklin bailed to Texas or USC he’d probably be in a better spot to be PSU candidate if he is already there. No idea if he wants to be a head coach.
 


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MaxyJR1 said:
Saw an article that he followed Fleck because he believed in him to Western & MN. He had never been outside a 3 state area of PA, NJ, DE prior to that. He helped Fleck get a great HC career start and I'm sure Fleck is grateful for it.
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I am sure both Fleck and KC are thankful for their relationship. I am also sure KC thoroughly counseled with Fleck about the move. Should be nothing bitter here on anyone's part. Just hope KC's possession of the Liberty Bell is finished. Fleck is the only coach we need to worry about losing. He can make us a helmet school.
 



Ciarrocca's hometown Lewisbury is 90 some miles from PSU. He tried to get closer to home last year at WVU before changing his mind. I'm guessing this is no surprise to Fleck and am hoping there's good a backup plan in place. Fleck seems the type to have backup plans for backup plans, so it'll be interesting to see what comes of this.

It really sucks to lose the OC to a conference foe though.
 


KC has kids in school back east, so he's wanted to get closer to home.
 

What about Kenni Burns? Any chance he slides into the interim title?
 






Huge bummer, and of course it can't be spun as a positive in the short-term. That said, it's not necessarily an indicator of anything negative in the program. As many have pointed out, you've got a guy from Pennsylvania moving back to his home state for a high profile (and likely better paying) job. Shouldn't shock anyone in the least.
 

I could see Adam Weber as a QB coach, but not an Offensive Coordinator.
 



HitMeAgainIAmStillMoving said:
Adam Weber. You heard it here first. If I am wrong forget where you heard it.
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Umm, Adam Weber is selling insurance in Chicago and pretty far from the coaching circuit. I bellied up to the bar next to him for the Nebraska game this year.
 


Someone is going to get his shot at OC, and I am sure PJ Fleck will have no trouble finding candidates and maybe he already has a next hire list.

Wisconsin showed how you can have versatility with TEs, Pass catching RBs, and well executed trick plays like the reverse punt return that Wisconsin drew up that the Gophers were totally unprepared for.

Get somebody who is equally WR/TE happy and pass catching. Maybe, we can convince players like Joe Alt to stay home instead of going to Iowa where his dad played.
 


I all but guarantee this won't happen, so those who would be vehemently against it for whatever reasons, rest easy.

I think the following would be a home run hire: Tim Polasek. Currently OL coach at Iowa. Was previously OC and RB coach at a smaller school (which I won't name, so as to avoid flying chairs in my direction), in addition to coaching TE and FB before that. In his playing days, he set the all-time passing record at a DIII school in Wisconsin. He could coach literally any position on the offense, perhaps save WR (but that's fine as we have Fleck and Simon).

If he was promoted to OC, I guarantee our running game would perform better. We'd be more flexible overall, with more personnel groups, and more formations.


Like I said, most likely won't happen. I think Fleck wants someone to come in and run the exact same offensive philosophy that KC ran. That might point to Simon/Callahan getting upgraded to OC, or maybe not, we'll see.

And there is certainly merit to wanting to keep consistency in scheme/philosophy/playbook.
 
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GopherWeatherGuy said:
Clay Patterson became the OC in waiting when he was hired. He had a ton of success running a similar offense in JUCO. I will be shocked if it's not him calling the plays in the bowl game, and next season.
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Simon and Callahan are already the passing and running game coordinators and have been with Fleck longer. I think they'll get the chance first.
 
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MplsGopher said:
I all but guarantee this won't happen, so those who would be vehemently against it for whatever reasons, rest easy.

I think the following would be a home run hire: Tim Polasek. Currently OL coach at Iowa. Was previously OC and RB coach at a smaller school (which I won't name, so as to avoid flying chairs in my direction), in addition to coaching TE and FB before that. In his playing days, he set the all-time passing record at a DIII school in Wisconsin. He could coach literally any position on the offense, perhaps save WR (but that's fine as we have Fleck and Simon).

If he was promoted to OC, I guarantee our running game would perform better. We'd be more flexible overall, with more personnel groups, and more formations.

Then promote Simon to be passing-game coordinator.


Like I said, most likely won't happen. I think Fleck wants someone to come in and run the exact same offensive philosophy that KC ran. That might point to Simon getting upgraded to OC, or maybe not, we'll see.

And there is certainly merit to wanting to keep consistency in scheme/philosophy/playbook.
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Simon is already the Passing Game Coordinator.

Matt Simon - Football Coach - University of Minnesota Athletics

NOTABLE: - Sixth year at Minnesota as wide receivers coach and third as co-offensive coordinator (14th year overall in coaching) - Twice served as...
gophersports.com gophersports.com
 

Proof is in the pudding. It is audition time for insiders...
 

FWIW:

- Simon is the passing-game coordinator and Callahan is the running-game coordinator: https://gophersports.com/sports/football/coaches

- KC has already been removed from that page


Based on that, I would assume Simon and Callahan will call the plays for the Outback bowl. Both have been with Fleck longer. Seems he would reward them with the chance?
 


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