Ciarrocca on PSU: “I really wanted to coach at a school where I felt like we had a legitimate chance to win a national championship"

[Spoofin]

We have all seen countless pressers of someone taking a new position and par for the course in most cases is to thank the previous location with some compliments and then talk about the new job. KC missed the first half of that and IMO he is too smart for that to not be intentional.

 

[Jeshurun]

And PSU is a stepping stone to that...?

 

[Some Day...Maybe]

Ciarrocca and Fleck have a great relationship. This is a non story. Of course he's looking for a coach like Fleck. That he respects and can learn from and with a good culture. Of course he wants to win a National Championship. Does Gopherhole think he wants to go to a program where he doesn't respect the coach or culture and can't learn from the coach? Does Gopherhole think he wants to go to a program that can't compete for a National Title? I think he wants all of that at a school real close to where he grew up and has family. If Fleck was at Penn St Kirk would be there for life. The Gophers are damn lucky to have Fleck, the best coach they've had in my 47 years by a thousand miles.

 

[Veritas]

I never thought KC was a very good fit with our coach. One wants to work alone and is not a "people person", the other is the exact opposite. Nothing wrong with introverts, but those comments are, at best, ignorant, at average, a hard shot at Fleck. Booo KC.

 

[Veritas]

Ciarrocca and Fleck have a great relationship. This is a non story. Of course he's looking for a coach like Fleck. That he respects and can learn from and with a good culture. Of course he wants to win a National Championship. Does Gopherhole think he wants to go to a program where he doesn't respect the coach or culture and can't learn from the coach? Does Gopherhole think he wants to go to a program that can't compete for a National Title? I think he wants all of that at a school real close to where he grew up and has family. If Fleck was at Penn St Kirk would be there for life. The Gophers are damn lucky to have Fleck, the best coach they've had in my 47 years by a thousand miles.

Well, I agree with your last line.

 

[MplsGopher]

If one takes a new job and holds a press conference saying you wanted to find a culture and boss you can respect, and you say nothing else about the culture and boss you left, the implication to me is pretty clear.

Certainly a strong possibility, but I think the door is open a crack that he just didn’t carefully word it.

It’s really easy to be thinking something in your head, and then word choice (or lack of word choice) doesn’t correctly or completely express that.

 

[Schnauzer]

Ciarrocca and Fleck have a great relationship. This is a non story. Of course he's looking for a coach like Fleck. That he respects and can learn from and with a good culture. Of course he wants to win a National Championship. Does Gopherhole think he wants to go to a program where he doesn't respect the coach or culture and can't learn from the coach? Does Gopherhole think he wants to go to a program that can't compete for a National Title? I think he wants all of that at a school real close to where he grew up and has family. If Fleck was at Penn St Kirk would be there for life. The Gophers are damn lucky to have Fleck, the best coach they've had in my 47 years by a thousand miles.

When someone changes their job and says they are looking for a good culture, it is often interpreted that they did not have a good culture in their past position. When someone changes a job and says a reason is for a chance to get something in particular, it is often interpreted that they did not have that "something" in their previous role.

Pretty straight forward.

I only have the posted quotes to go on. Perhaps there were other quotes that suggested Ciarrocca had the same things at Minnesota that he was also seeking out in his new position? If so, I agree, this is a non story. But, the quoted comments do not include that and unless someone can add Ciarrocca's comments that suggest these things, it is easy to see why this can be interpreted as a shot at Fleck and the Gopher football program.

 

[MNVCGUY]

We have all seen countless pressers of someone taking a new position and par for the course in most cases is to thank the previous location with some compliments and then talk about the new job. KC missed the first half of that and IMO he is too smart for that to not be intentional.

We don't always see eye to eye but in this instance I agree 100%.

 

[HoustonTXGopher]

KC was too old for our culture and as a mix with other coaches. PJ doesn't need a 50 something on the staff being a recluse in the film room, PJ needs to be the statesman to a bunch of young and hungry guys that have a ton of energy and just follow coaches lead..

KC will be gone after two years at PSU.

PSU last won a championship during the Reagan administration. We may never win another national championship, but I like our short term upside far more than I like PSU's.

 

[John Galt]

So KC voluntarily worked for Fleck for 7 years but didn’t like the culture? Funny, I would never be able to do that.

 

[PMWinSTP]

First of all, Penn State has no more legitimate a chance to win a national championship than does Minnesota. And if history is so important - Penn State hasn't won a national title in 34 years. They have a massive following and a huge stadium that's generally full. Those are their differentiators. It has nothing to do with perceived or actual competitiveness.

PSU has been ranked in the top 25 eight times (six were top 10) in the last 15 years, so it has been much more competitive from that standpoint.

 

[John Galt]

I think West Virginia should feel the most slighted by his national championships comment.

 

[MNVCGUY]

So KC voluntarily worked for Fleck for 7 years but didn’t like the culture? Funny, I would never be able to do that.

Entirely possible. He was close to leaving last off season and it is very possible that he never got a job offer that appealed to him enough to leave while they were together at Western Michigan.

He could have recognized that Fleck was on the way up so figured it was worth sucking it up and sticking with him even if they didn't totally see eye to eye. Just guessing of course since I have no clue what their dynamic was like, but they have extremely different personalities so seems like the potential for some tension would be there.

 

[Rescooter]

...... He easily could have just leaned on the dream job angle. He grew up in that area, it makes total sense that he would want to coach there if the opportunity presented itself.

Completely agree with this. You usually try to take the high-road and be as evasive or non-committal with your opinions as possible. He threw out the word "culture" on purpose. I'm starting to think that Fleck's success here has ruffled a few feathers and we'll see more of this type of thing.

 

[Gophergrandpa]

Certainly a strong possibility, but I think the door is open a crack that he just didn’t carefully word it.

It’s really easy to be thinking something in your head, and then word choice (or lack of word choice) doesn’t correctly or completely express that.

You might be right. I went back and read the whole article. Overall, it didn’t seem as bad as his few strange remarks viewed alone. Still, KC seems to have passed on a chance to say he enjoyed his past few years—and that he grew during those years—and that he enjoyed his many years with PJ. Maybe he’s just kind of tone deaf.

 

[Word]

So KC voluntarily worked for Fleck for 7 years but didn’t like the culture? Funny, I would never be able to do that.

People do it all the time.

 

[Word]

My hunch is that PJ and KC got into a big fight over using the tight ends. /S

 

[PitinoFan]

Maybe Kirk didn’t like the buzz words and acronyms and such. I don’t recall him saying “Elite,” or referring to any of his players as “Nektons.”

 

[A_Slab_of_Bacon]

My hunch is that PJ and KC got into a big fight over using the tight ends. /S

Or the lack of a room for them.....

 

[Cruze]

The worst part about KC's quotes is that they go against the message that Fleck is trying to instill in Gopher players and recruits:

If you adopt our culture, live it everyday, and work your asses off there is NOTHING you can't do including winning Big 10 Championships, Rose Bowls, and National Championships.

It seems KC wasn't rowing the boat in the same direction as Coach Fleck and the Gopher players who won eleven games and manhandled Auburn in the bowl game.

 

[madison]

Need to win that division first...

They won the Big Ten in 2016.

 

[Lakeville Goldy]

The thing is, it's not like the entire transcript of the presser is on there. Just highlights. He might have spent 20 minutes saying how awesome Fleck and the U of M was and the reporter didn't say anything about it because it wasn't relevant to PSU fans. I guess until someone listens to the whole thing maybe we shouldn't assume he's throwing shade at Fleck...

 

[A_Slab_of_Bacon]

I think Kirk isn't the best of public speakers and he likely leaned on a standard platitude and it most likely has nothing to do with Minnesota.

 

[fmlizard]

Nice of KC to take the time to write a departing motivational message on our bulletin board in his hasty and ill timed exit.

 

[corcorangopher]

I think Kirk isn't the best of public speakers and he likely leaned on a standard platitude and it most likely has nothing to do with Minnesota.

Exactly, this has nothing to do with Fleck and MN, just sucking up to Franklin and PSU fans. Tell them what they want to hear.

 

[60's Guy]

We won’t maybe hear more until we play in 2022.

Will KC still be there?

 

[MNVCGUY]

The thing is, it's not like the entire transcript of the presser is on there. Just highlights. He might have spent 20 minutes saying how awesome Fleck and the U of M was and the reporter didn't say anything about it because it wasn't relevant to PSU fans. I guess until someone listens to the whole thing maybe we shouldn't assume he's throwing shade at Fleck...

Here is the full video. The only real Minnesota mentions are the ones that have been posted. It isn't like he attacked Minnesota flat out but some of the ways he chose to frame things could easily be seen as a dig at Fleck.

 

[Pompous Elitist]

He’s recruiting against MN and PJF now. It’s not personal, it’s business. Culture talk wasn’t a big deal to some after PJF‘s introductory presser and Kill was wrong to be upset about perceived slights, yeah?

 

[Mulligan]

Actually, Shakespeare wrote a play about this: "Much Ado About Nothing."

 

[PitinoFan]

Here is the full video. The only real Minnesota mentions are the ones that have been posted. It isn't like he attacked Minnesota flat out but some of the ways he chose to frame things could easily be seen as a dig at Fleck.

I watched it all. I have no issues with any of it.