Kirk Ciarocca taking OC job at Penn St

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Any Offensive coaches that may want to join KC at PSU?
 


GopherBulldog said:
Have there been any direct quotes from KC in the press as of yet? I believe what he says will be very telling regarding the true reason why he left Minnesota. If he sticks to the “I’m a Pennsylvania guy, going home, closer to family” script he gives PJF a ton of latitude to spin the PR around it in a way that minimizes any collateral damage among the team, future recruits, etc. This then feels to me like a somewhat unavoidable and planned move that PJ, CK and Franklin all had eyes wide open on the situation. If it becomes more about opportunity to win championships, working for a top tier B1G program... That becomes a difficult narrative to manage going forward. And could cause lasting issues (even if PJ finds a suitable replacement — which is no certainty). It will be really interesting to see how this plays out. Big test for PJ and the program.
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Here's the PSU Press Release, with said requested quote:

Ciarrocca Named Penn State Offensive Coordinator
Pennsylvania native is a veteran offensive coordinator with championship pedigree

ARLINGTON, Texas – Penn State football head coach James Franklin named Kirk Ciarrocca (pronounced shuh-ROCK-uh) offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Thursday. Ciarrocca comes to Happy Valley with 18 years of experience as an offensive coordinator, most recently at the University of Minnesota.

“We couldn’t be more excited to bring in someone of Kirk’s caliber to our Penn State football family,” Franklin said. “He is a veteran coordinator who also has deep Pennsylvania roots and ties. His most recent successes as an offensive coordinator caught our eye. What impressed me most about Kirk in the hiring process was his humility and his willingness to make this an easy transition for our players. We are thrilled to welcome Kirk and his family home to Pennsylvania and to Happy Valley!”

"I couldn’t be more excited about the opportunity to work at a program as rich in tradition as Penn State University,” Ciarrocca said. “It is an honor and a privilege to join Coach Franklin’s staff and to work alongside such a successful head football coach. Having grown up a Penn State fan, I am humbled by the opportunity to serve as your offensive coordinator. My family and I are overjoyed to be coming home to Happy Valley."

Ciarrocca spent the last three seasons as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Minnesota. During his time with the Golden Gophers, the offense put up impressive numbers, including a record-breaking season for quarterback Tanner Morgan in 2019.

In 2019, the Golden Gophers posted a 10-win regular season for the first time since 1905, thanks in part to the third-highest scoring offense in program history and the second-most passing yards in a season by the Gophers. Ciarrocca was selected as a semifinalist for the 2019 Broyles Award for the nation’s top assistant coach.

Golden Gopher quarterback Tanner Morgan set program records for season passing yards, season touchdown passes and consecutive games with a touchdown pass on the way to second-team All-Big Ten accolades this season. The Gophers also touted a pair of 1,000-yard wide receivers in All-American and Big Ten Receiver of the Year Rashod Bateman and All-Big Ten first team honoree Tyler Johnson. Morgan was a semifinalist for the Davey O’Brien Award for the nation’s top quarterback, while Bateman was a semifinalist for the Biletnikoff Award for the best wide receiver in the country.

Prior to his time at Minnesota, Ciarrocca was the offensive coordinator at Western Michigan for four seasons. In his time with the Broncos, Ciarrocca’s offense set records for points, total yards and touchdowns in 2015, only to break those same records against in 2016. The Broncos finished ninth in FBS in points per game (41.57) as they won the MAC and earned a spot in the Cotton Bowl Classic with a 13-1 record in 2016. Ciarrocca coached the 2016 MAC Offensive Player of the Year and NCAA Consensus All-American in wide receiver Corey Davis, as well as 2016 William V. Campbell Trophy winner in quarterback Zach Terrell.

Before moving to Western Michigan, Ciarrocca had stints at Delaware (2012 – running backs), Richmond (2011 – quarterbacks) and Rutgers (2008-10 – co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks).

In a six-year tour as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Delaware from 2002-07, Ciarrocca helped guide the Blue Hens to the National Championship in 2003 and mentored Super Bowl-winning quarterback Joe Flacco. In addition, the 2007 Blue Hen offense ranked in the top 10 nationally in scoring, total offense, passing offense, third down conversion and red zone offense. He had a pair of quarterbacks drafted into the NFL during his first stint with the Blue Hens.

Ciarrocca also had stops at Penn (2000-01 – wide receivers), Princeton (1996-99 – wide receivers), Western Connecticut State (1994-95 – offensive coordinator/quarterbacks/wide receivers; 1992 – passing game coordinator/wide receivers), Delaware Valley College (passing game coordinator/wide receivers) and Temple (1990-91 – graduate assistant). During his time at Penn, the Quakers won the 2000 Ivy League championship.

A native of Lewisberry, Pennsylvania, Ciarrocca was a defensive back at Juniata College in Pennsylvania before moving on to Temple where he graduated in 1990.

Ciarrocca and his wife Kim have a daughter, Colby, and a son, Cade.
 

GopherBulldog said:
Have there been any direct quotes from KC in the press as of yet? I believe what he says will be very telling regarding the true reason why he left Minnesota. If he sticks to the “I’m a Pennsylvania guy, going home, closer to family” script he gives PJF a ton of latitude to spin the PR around it in a way that minimizes any collateral damage among the team, future recruits, etc. This then feels to me like a somewhat unavoidable and planned move that PJ, CK and Franklin all had eyes wide open on the situation. If it becomes more about opportunity to win championships, working for a top tier B1G program... That becomes a difficult narrative to manage going forward. And could cause lasting issues (even if PJ finds a suitable replacement — which is no certainty). It will be really interesting to see how this plays out. Big test for PJ and the program.
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"I couldn't be more excited about the opportunity to work at a program as rich in tradition as Penn State University," Ciarrocca said in a statement. "It is an honor and a privilege to join Coach Franklin's staff and to work alongside such a successful head football coach. Having grown up a Penn State fan, I am humbled by the opportunity to serve as your offensive coordinator. My family and I are overjoyed to be coming home to Happy Valley."

www.cbssports.com

Penn State swipes its new offensive coordinator from Minnesota in hiring Kirk Ciarrocca

Ciarrocca's offense bested Penn State earlier this season in Minneapolis
www.cbssports.com www.cbssports.com

Interestingly, Franklin has gotten a new OC about every two years.
 

GopherBulldog said:
Have there been any direct quotes from KC in the press as of yet? I believe what he says will be very telling regarding the true reason why he left Minnesota. If he sticks to the “I’m a Pennsylvania guy, going home, closer to family” script he gives PJF a ton of latitude to spin the PR around it in a way that minimizes any collateral damage among the team, future recruits, etc. This then feels to me like a somewhat unavoidable and planned move that PJ, CK and Franklin all had eyes wide open on the situation. If it becomes more about opportunity to win championships, working for a top tier B1G program... That becomes a difficult narrative to manage going forward. And could cause lasting issues (even if PJ finds a suitable replacement — which is no certainty). It will be really interesting to see how this plays out. Big test for PJ and the program.
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"I couldn’t be more excited about the opportunity to work at a program as rich in tradition as Penn State University,” Ciarrocca said. “It is an honor and a privilege to join Coach Franklin’s staff and to work alongside such a successful head football coach. Having grown up a Penn State fan, I am humbled by the opportunity to serve as your offensive coordinator. My family and I are overjoyed to be coming home to Happy Valley."
 



Mitu said:
Losing someone of KC’s caliber sucks
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All due respect to KC ... what do you mean by "caliber"?

I don't think he had much of a nationally profile before this year. He was a QB coach and/or OC at places like Penn, Delaware, Richmond, all in the FCS (DI-AA) level, other than a stint at Rutgers in 2008-10.
 

oleboy41 said:
Those are silly, uninformed takes. Kirk runs the offense but does so in a way that is approved by the HC. By all accounts PJ is involved with the offense and he has stated numerous times what his philosophy's are on that side of the ball. A HC does not need to be a coordinator. Same reason why a company president has a CFO. Whoever is hired will be hired to run the type of offense PJ wants ran at least philosophically. Not to mention it's been speculated for quite a while that some of our O staff is being groomed to be an OC since it's been clear for a while KC wasn't going to be here for the long term after he talked about wanting to get back East at some point
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"I guess the best way to describe it is Coach is the leader of the family, he sets the culture in the program but he leaves the X's and O's to coach Pinkham and I," Ciarrocca said. "He leaves the system, how we want to go about planning and stuff to Ed and I. He's a great resource, he's an unbelievable teacher, was a great position coach, so he's a great resource especially for me because his background is on the offensive side of the ball."

P.J. Fleck leaves X's and O's to coordinators, and that's how they like it

Broncos coach P.J. Fleck gets results from his coordinators by letting them lead their sides of the ball
www.mlive.com www.mlive.com
 

Hate to see him go, but at the same time I'm not as broken up about this as some may be. I really hopes Fleck stays in house with either Simon, Patterson, or some combination of the two. Personally, I'd love to see Patterson making the play calls.
 



The Gophers are extraordinarily well positioned to absorb this loss. It's not a matter of whether they have an in-house option to replace him; it's a matter of which qualified candidate to go with and whether the other qualified candidates will feel jilted and look for a promotion elsewhere.

Personally I'd be bummed if they didn't go with Patterson, but I'd understand if they went with Simon.
 


MplsGopher said:
It was the same game plan as we had used all year: make an attempt to run the ball, and if that doesn't go well, then rely on our QB and top WRs to make tremendous plays through the air.

And that worked all year. Except for the first half at Iowa, and the final three quarters vs Wisconsin.
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NO, it was not.
 

Lot of people making some huge assumption about Patterson.

Don't see why he would leapfrog Simon and Callahan.
 




MplsGopher said:
All due respect to KC ... what do you mean by "caliber"?

I don't think he had much of a nationally profile before this year. He was a QB coach and/or OC at places like Penn, Delaware, Richmond, all in the FCS (DI-AA) level, other than a stint at Rutgers in 2008-10.
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I meant “competent” with the ability to show results ?
 

Please stop quoting KC from his press release at PSU on why he went to PSU as fact of why he went to PSU. It may be, it may not be. 50/50 chance, really.
 

The only question now is this: does Tony Dungy choose the OC or the D-Line coaching position?
 

Mitu said:
I meant “competent” with the ability to show results ?
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Morgan and Bateman made him look competent.

I mean, even I could look competent, with those two. :D
 

The only thing I thought KC could have done better was the short yardage/goal line offense with Seth Green at QB. Never understood why they didn't have a pass play to a TE or WR. Might have come in handy on a 4th and 2 from the 35-yard line.
 

MplsGopher said:
Sure it was. Why do you say that?
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Listen to the Gridiron Podcast breaking down the Wisconsin game - specifically listen to Derrick Burns and how he describes the changes in our game-plan from what we did all year. I agreed with everything he said and it matched what I saw at the game. He will explain the Xs and Os and strategy of it better than I can. In simple terms - we tried to 'grind it out' against Wisconsin more than in any other game. You can use the weather as an excuse, but WI didn't seem to mind the weather so I view it as more of a strategy/game-plan. We played a strategy to win a low scoring game - not unlike what we used to do under Kill. It doesn't have to be a bad strategy, but it isn't what made us successful all year.
 

MplsGopher said:
Morgan and Bateman made him look competent.

I mean, even I could look competent, with those two. :D
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Haha! To be fair though, he was the QB coach and Morgan has developed a lot as a passer between last year and this year. Of course he benefits from having Bateman and Johnson, but I think we have to give some credit where credit is due.
 

Mitu said:
Haha! To be fair though, he was the QB coach and Morgan has developed a lot as a passer between last year and this year. Of course he benefits from having Bateman and Johnson, but I think we have to give some credit where credit is due.
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Yep! This point has been brought up before and is a great point.
 

Spoofin said:
Listen to the Gridiron Podcast breaking down the Wisconsin game - specifically listen to Derrick Burns and how he describes the changes in our game-plan from what we did all year. I agreed with everything he said and it matched what I saw at the game. He will explain the Xs and Os and strategy of it better than I can. In simple terms - we tried to 'grind it out' against Wisconsin more than in any other game. You can use the weather as an excuse, but WI didn't seem to mind the weather so I view it as more of a strategy/game-plan. We played a strategy to win a low scoring game - not unlike what we used to do under Kill. It doesn't have to be a bad strategy, but it isn't what made us successful all year.
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Thanks for sharing that!

I guess what I think of it as, is we used big air plays to "bail us out" on offense all year. We hit a great one early in the game too, the first TD. But then we couldn't do much for the rest of the game.
 

Ozzy&Ray said:
Funny to read the spin like everything will be just fine. KC was the head coach of the offense. PJF relies way too much on coordinators with no system of his own. He’s hired one OC, so there is no way to know he will make a “great” hire.
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You are such a tard. It’s fun to read your posts. They often make me laugh. Thank you
 

btowngopher said:
Yeah but we certainly would have gone undefeated had we mixed in the TE and RBs. We’d also be attracting high end TE prospects.
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Can’t argue with this. A few more passes to Ko Kieft and we’d be in the college football playoff.
 

MplsGopher said:
All due respect to KC ... what do you mean by "caliber"?

I don't think he had much of a nationally profile before this year. He was a QB coach and/or OC at places like Penn, Delaware, Richmond, all in the FCS (DI-AA) level, other than a stint at Rutgers in 2008-10.
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Well he was wanted by Auburn and West Virginia over the last couple years and Penn State got him. People have seen how he develops QBs.
 

PitinoFan said:
No.

Can you honestly look back on each game and say certain things couldn’t have been better? I’m sure even Kirk, himself, would acknowledge that.
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Of course. Every OC in every game could be better. I just find it funny that people are critical when he just gave us the best offensive season we’ve ever seen.
 

Interesting that Ciarrocca didn't recruit a single 2020 commit this year per 247 sports. That indicates a move was no surprise to the Gopher staff.
 

Ozzy&Ray said:
Funny to read the spin like everything will be just fine. KC was the head coach of the offense. PJF relies way too much on coordinators with no system of his own. He’s hired one OC, so there is no way to know he will make a “great” hire.
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Funny stuff
 

Panthadad2 said:
Interesting that Ciarrocca didn't recruit a single 2020 commit this year per 247 sports. That indicates a move was no surprise to the Gopher staff.
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Ciarrocca only had responsibility for recruiting QBs. Fleck joked at signing day that he had the easiest job since we didn’t take a QB in 2020 and already had one committed for 2021.
 

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