PJ Targeting Ciarrocca for Return as OC?

Donate To GopherHole
I am super pumped about the Ciarrocca rehire. He has had success with Fleck dating back to Western Michigan and as was already said, it seems odd for people to be hoping the Gophers can get an OC as good as KC when KC himself is an option.

And for those worrying he will move on again, he was going to move on after 2018 and ended up staying. He did a pretty good job in 2019 despite that distraction. I think he is great and this is a home run hire. After his unfortunate experience at PSU, I’m guessing he will be far less likely to roll the dice again. Meanwhile, continuity and stability for the Gophers.
 

Well that is probably best for him. (Simon) Maybe he needs to prove he can do it at a lower level before he takes over a Big Ten job.

Or maybe people on a message board care about it way more than he does...
 


Face The Facts said:
1. He's never been an OC on his own before.
Click to expand...
Auburn bowl game. Jesus :rolleyes:

Face The Facts said:
2. He's never been a QB coach before.
Click to expand...
So????

Yeah because KC ever played QB in his life??

Face The Facts said:
3. He's never recruited (or identified) a QB before.
Click to expand...
a) how do you know that??
b) so????? (see above)

Face The Facts said:
QB's that KC has identified:
Brennan Armstrong, Hank Bachemeier, Tanner Morgan, Athan Kalamanaiaiais, Max Duggan.
(Not sure if he was behing the Vic Viramontes transfer idea).
But these other guys are all playing well from prominent teams.
Click to expand...
Fleck found those.

Disprove it
 

I never would've considered that KC would want to come back or that the door was open to do that, in a million years, after ditching Fleck.

I thought it was "I want to go back home to PA, thanks for the boost PJ, byeeeeeee" and that was that.

I guess after getting scape-goated by Franklin after last year (crappy QB play early on), and then not getting offered a position at WV, he figured this was the next best thing.


OK. I guess we'll roll with it.

Obviously this is what decided it for Tanner. Extremely smart move, to hopefully re-build your draft profile, after Sanford destroyed it.


We have an awesome, NFL-potential TE in Spann-Ford. If he transfers because KC won't throw it to TE's .... then KC should be fired before next season.
 



Also....I don't understand how anyone has an issue with this. Ciarrocca was behind a historically good Gophers offense. I'd rather have the best coaches in place and win....rather than be butthurt that he left in the first place. PSU OC was probably near the top of the guy's dream job list. And as far as I know....he didn't leave on bad terms. Different situation than something like Bert leaving Wisconsin for Arkansas.

 


And yes, painfully obvious that Simon is going to have to leave the program to become an OC.

Randy's STrib article today wrongly notes that Simon and Sanford were co-OC's. Nope. Sanford's title was "OC". Simon's title was "co-OC". Yeah ...
 



Cedar Rapids Gopher said:
They could announce Kyle Shanahan as the OC and some here would still complain.
Click to expand...
Well, yeah. He'd only end up being a coaching candidate somewhere else and we'd have to worry about him leaving. ;)
 

stocker08 said:
Also....I don't understand how anyone has an issue with this. Ciarrocca was behind a historically good Gophers offense. I'd rather have the best coaches in place and win....rather than be butthurt that he left in the first place. PSU OC was probably near the top of the guy's dream job list. And as far as I know....he didn't leave on bad terms. Different situation than something like Bert leaving Wisconsin for Arkansas.

Click to expand...
Sure, that's one way to spin it all.

Fleck will use this, to paint the picture that everything was perfectly rosy then and now.
 


MplsGopher said:
Sure, that's one way to spin it all.

Fleck will use this, to paint the picture that everything was perfectly rosy then and now.
Click to expand...

Spin what? Our offense was great under KC. There's nothing to spin.
 




MplsGopher said:
Other than never throwing to TE's, it was indeed.

All the rest of it, regarding the circumstances of his departure and return.
Click to expand...

The rest of it? PSU was high on KCs list of dream jobs. He didn't leave on bad terms. We never even faced off against him.

As I said....there's not a whole lot to spin here. Our OC position has been lacking since he left....and now there's an opportunity to bring him back.
 


zman said:
Well you can. But you can only execute one.

You're welcome.
Click to expand...
Earlier this year with the offense trotting out ... I'm not sure they even knew what play was being called.

Looked way different later in the year.
 

stocker08 said:
PSU was high on KCs list of dream jobs.
Click to expand...
Makes sense, I buy that.

stocker08 said:
He didn't leave on bad terms.
Click to expand...
Hahaha. I don't buy that for a second.

I bet Fleck was so pissed. The feelings of abandonment, that his ego would dictate, I bet there were some nasty conversations that went on behind closed doors.

You think either side would ever admit that? Of course not.


Certainly, I'm fabricating every word of this. I have zero proof ... and I don't have to prove a thing. I think what I want to be true. Happens on this board all the time.

stocker08 said:
Our OC position has been lacking since he left....and now there's an opportunity to bring him back.
Click to expand...
Yes. And it could work out very well for all involved.
 


hungan1 said:
People should realize that there will be up and down years for the Gophers even with KC back.

We will always have the “Fire someone” crowd on GH when the Gophers lose games. They expect perfection.
Click to expand...
there are people who coaches fired if we didn't win by large enough margin
 

hungan1 said:
People should realize that there will be up and down years for the Gophers even with KC back.

We will always have the “Fire someone” crowd on GH when the Gophers lose games. They expect perfection.
Click to expand...

The difference for some coaches is track record: they‘ve proven themselves to be winners and producers. Others haven’t done squat, or actively harmed their teams.

PJF has earned himself a long leash. Very few are calling for his head. Rossi is doing a great job. Ciarrocca has done a great job historically. If he’s willing to come back you take him back, 100% and eat your pride if necessary.
 


MplsGopher said:
Other than never throwing to TE's, it was indeed.

All the rest of it, regarding the circumstances of his departure and return.
Click to expand...
You think two NFL WR's had anything to do with it? Who were the TE's? Is wasn't a 4th or 5th Year Spann-Ford, it was a 2nd Year Spann-Ford, Witham, and Paulson.

I don't think Fleck is going to bring someone back and let them go easy in his program. He's fired a DC in season and let another OC go after a 8-4 season. He will do it again if it doesn't pan out.

Reports are that Simon has had offers to leave. We don't know what those offers are. Are them WR coach at the NFL level? WR coach at a P5 program? or OC anywhere? We don't even know if he wants to be the OC here.
 

Coaching I understand but what about recruiting? Can he find the hidden gem that other recruiters miss? He will call the plays that PJ wants called.
 

MaxyJR1 said:
You think two NFL WR's had anything to do with it? Who were the TE's? Is wasn't a 4th or 5th Year Spann-Ford, it was a 2nd Year Spann-Ford, Witham, and Paulson.
Click to expand...
Hope you're correct.

All I ask is BSF gets targets. Would be pathetic for him to be abandoned, when he was really coming on at the end of this year.

MaxyJR1 said:
I don't think Fleck is going to bring someone back and let them go easy in his program. He's fired a DC in season and let another OC go after a 8-4 season. He will do it again if it doesn't pan out.
Click to expand...
Good, fair points.

MaxyJR1 said:
Reports are that Simon has had offers to leave. We don't know what those offers are. Are them WR coach at the NFL level? WR coach at a P5 program? or OC anywhere? We don't even know if he wants to be the OC here.
Click to expand...
I think the idea that Simon doesn't want to be the OC here is just laughable silly. Yet he accepted the promotions to passing-game coordinator and then co-OC?

If he has offers to leave, then I think he should consider them hard and I will wish him the best of luck.


Or maybe he thinks we have a great thing going here and was good with KC at the head, and wants to give it another couple years to see if this thing can rise to a level that no one has dreamed of yet?

We'll see.
 

MplsGopher said:
Hope you're correct.

All I ask is BSF gets targets. Would be pathetic for him to be abandoned, when he was really coming on at the end of this year.


Good, fair points.


I think the idea that Simon doesn't want to be the OC here is just laughable silly. Yet he accepted the promotions to passing-game coordinator and then co-OC?

If he has offers to leave, then I think he should consider them hard and I will wish him the best of luck.


Or maybe he thinks we have a great thing going here and was good with KC at the head, and wants to give it another couple years to see if this thing can rise to a level that no one has dreamed of yet?

We'll see.
Click to expand...
Spann-Ford should almost be a 3rd WR when you have great blocking TE's or extra OL. I agree he needs more targets.

Hope Autman-Bell is back for the WR group.
 

He's a taller Irv Smith Jr, in the making.
 


GopherWeatherGuy said:
Reminder that Ciarrocca's offenses significantly improved under multiple years of his leadership at both Western Michigan and Minnesota. Our offense has been trending downward since he left. He should be able to jump back in and pick up mostly where he left off here as the fundamentals of that offense still exist.

Football outsiders offense - OF+ rankings

Ciarrocca
Western Michigan
2013: 120
2014: 47
2015: 25
2016: 10
Minnesota
2017: 90
2018: 77
2019: 6
Penn St
2020: 47

Sanford at Minnesota:
2020: 30
2021: 56

2019 COLLEGE FOOTBALL F+ RATINGS | Football Outsiders

2019 F+ ratings combining FEI and SP+
www.footballoutsiders.com www.footballoutsiders.com
Click to expand...
Wow, that is pretty telling right there. I am all for KC coming back. Some always want to tend towards wanting the unknown but I tend to lean much more towards the known commodity. That is why I am glad Morgan is back and if he gets reunited with KC I think the end result of that could be a very good thing for this program.
 

MplsGopher said:
And yes, painfully obvious that Simon is going to have to leave the program to become an OC.

Randy's STrib article today wrongly notes that Simon and Sanford were co-OC's. Nope. Sanford's title was "OC". Simon's title was "co-OC". Yeah ...
Click to expand...
It is still entirely possible that Simon does not want to be an OC and is happy to be a position coach. Not all position coaches want to be coordinators just like not all coordinators want to be head coaches.

Fans like to assume that every coach is looking to move up the ranks but that isn't always the case.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom