Wow: Kirk Ciarrocca Takes OC Job at Rutgers

Donate To GopherHole
It’s actually everyone else who can’t have it both ways.

Either Rossi was a great hire and therefore the 2018 season before Smith was fired can’t be held against Rossi.

Or, it can be held against him and you therefore think Rossi was a bad hire (thus exposing yourself as being not honest or knowing very little about Gopher football).


Hiring Rossi proves that hiring Simon is correct.

If Fleck would not have done that, then sure, it would cut the legs off of hiring Simon.

But he did and it worked very well. So, it’s time to give a guy from Farmington his well deserved shot.
 

tjgopher said:
Indeed. And, now KC is going back to work for a guy who has already fired him once before.
Click to expand...
Comparing Schiano’s 2010 firing after two years as co-OC to Franklin’s firing after one covid year as OC, is the exact same same?

Not in the slightest.
 

Ogee Ogilthorpe said:
I'm really struggling to see what so many people see in Matt Simon up to this point to warrant demanding that he be given a shot at the OC for a Power 5 program. It just boggles the mind.

He may have had a hand in calling a bowl game 3-4 years ago that the Gophers ended up winning. This is the primary body of evidence supporting him being the OC? Sorry, gonna need a little more than that.
Click to expand...
You were against the Rossi hire, then.
 

If you believe Justin Gaard, he is tweeting that Kirk C is going to be paid $1.5-million as the OC at Rutgers. Even with the new contract, I believe he was in line to make $900,000 at MN.

so a $600,000 difference. That seems to be enough to convince some people to change jobs.

according to the Daily Gopher, Kirk C at MN was 8th in salary among B1G OC's. His base salary for 2022 - again, according to the Daily Gopher, was $625,000.

also - if I'm reading the contract correctly, Kirk C (or Rutgers) has to pay MN a buyout of $275,000 to get Kirk C out of his contract.

cue Pink Floyd.
 

Fleck has talked about bringing Tanner Morgan on to his staff. I could see Simon getting the OC job and Tanner being a Grad Assistant with responsibility for QB's.
 


nsmike said:
Fleck has talked about bringing Tanner Morgan on to his staff. I could see Simon getting the OC job and Tanner being a Grad Assistant with responsibility for QB's.
Click to expand...
I think Morgan was a very intelligent QB but had confidence issues toward the end and didn't have game changer physical skills. I could see him being a very good QB assistant/coach in the future.
 

swelna said:
I think Morgan was a very intelligent QB but had confidence issues toward the end and didn't have game changer physical skills. I could see him being a very good QB assistant/coach in the future.
Click to expand...
Perhaps his head injuries had something to do with his confidence level. I wouldn't rule him out as a coach.
 

Gophers_4life said:
Comparing Schiano’s 2010 firing after two years as co-OC to Franklin’s firing after one covid year as OC, is the exact same same?

Not in the slightest.
Click to expand...

Huh? I never compared them.

I simply said KC is going back to a guy who already has fired him once while leaving a guy who has bailed him out at least twice (maybe 3 times).

My point is, KC may not be making great career decisions, as I think it is likely he'll get fired yet again in a couple of seasons. He likely could have stayed with PJ as long as he wanted without any risk of losing his job.

Of course, it is his life and he is making lots of money.
 

Going into the 2022 season, I was thrilled when I heard Ciarrocca was returning here.

At the beginning of the season the offense was looking almost better than the 2019 version. Then, it seemed to fall flat. I understand that the schedule got tougher as the season progressed, but in 2019 the offense had some of their best games against good teams — Penn State and Auburn, for example.

In 2023 we'll see many dramatic changes on offense: a new QB, obviously. Mo is gone, so the offense will no longer run through him. We'll have a new coordinator. Those are big, fundamental changes.

Who knows? Change might be good. It's definitely going to be interesting.
 




It doesn’t have to be so complicated. Just give Simon a short contract to prove himself, if he’s awful move on. It’s not a HC hire where you need to commit for five years. Bring on a qb coach/co-oc who can take over mid season if Simon falters.
 

Ogee Ogilthorpe said:
I'm really struggling to see what so many people see in Matt Simon up to this point to warrant demanding that he be given a shot at the OC for a Power 5 program. It just boggles the mind.

He may have had a hand in calling a bowl game 3-4 years ago that the Gophers ended up winning. This is the primary body of evidence supporting him being the OC? Sorry, gonna need a little more than that.
Click to expand...
A large number of WMU fans were wanting Simon to be their HC.
 

Gophers_4life said:
It’s actually everyone else who can’t have it both ways.

Either Rossi was a great hire and therefore the 2018 season before Smith was fired can’t be held against Rossi.

Or, it can be held against him and you therefore think Rossi was a bad hire (thus exposing yourself as being not honest or knowing very little about Gopher football).


Hiring Rossi proves that hiring Simon is correct.

If Fleck would not have done that, then sure, it would cut the legs off of hiring Simon.

But he did and it worked very well. So, it’s time to give a guy from Farmington his well deserved shot.
Click to expand...
This is some of the worst logic I’ve ever heard
Lol

Simon might be a great hire but it has nothing to do with Rossi.
And if he is a bad hire it has nothing to do with Rossi.
 



howeda7 said:
This. And the last time we went outside it was a disaster. I'm fine with an external candidate if it's a no-brainer. But if it's someone whose resume isn't clearly superior to Simon, I'd rather go with the devil we know.
Click to expand...
So you need a resume better than position coach on a mediocre offense?
Tall task



If it’s Simon I hope he is successful.
 

Tommyboy said:
Just as the Portal has resulted in open door rosters, college coaches are mercenaries, looking for the next larger pay day. The winning programs will continue to collect the best coaches and players, and the programs like Minnesota with continue to be stepping stones to the next larger pay day. Overall, the program is doing pretty good.
Click to expand...
Right, which is why nobody held PSU against him. But Rutgers? Minnesota should be able to hold on to any coach that gets an offer from Rutgers. If the goal was always for him to move on then whatever, but if Minnesota lost a bidding war to the Scarlett Knights then that's pretty pathetic.
 

CoachBrewMotivator said:
Matt Simon seems like the obvious choice.

If I can fall down the rabbit hole and suggest an external candidate, Kansas OC Andy Kotelnicki comes to mind. Probably hard to poach him for the same position here, but with what we've seen these last few days, I guess anything is possible.

From Litchfield Minnesota, has Minnesota roots, so maybe that would entice a return home.
Arrived at Kansas in 2021 along with Lance Leipold. Kansas offensive ypg has improved from 260 in 2020 (before his arrival) to 440 ypg this past year, and 6th in offensive yards per play.

Athan isn't quite the athlete that Jalon Daniels is, but Kotelnicki runs a lot of read option and RPO that heavily utilizes slant routes, something that's been pretty successful here.
Click to expand...
Seriously, send Fleck an email.
 

hello-world said:
Right, which is why nobody held PSU against him. But Rutgers? Minnesota should be able to hold on to any coach that gets an offer from Rutgers. If the goal was always for him to move on then whatever, but if Minnesota lost a bidding war to the Scarlett Knights then that's pretty pathetic.
Click to expand...
Pretty much guaranteed there was no bidding war. When the guy twice as been offered to move East and has wanted to do so, there was no reason to even try and change his mind. Time to move on and find stability.
 

well, this will give us an idea into how much control Fleck exercises over his OC.

If Kirk goes to Rutgers and comes out with a wide-open offense, that might tend to suggest that Fleck has his thumb on the scale more than outsiders realize.
 

So is hiring someone from within that isn’t known as a top coordinator or nfl guy something we want? Always trying to find that unknown or catch lightning in a bottle? Keep in mind who Wisconsin and Nebraska are bringing in. Seems relatively risky to promote Simon and hope we hit a home run.
 

CentralGopher said:
So is hiring someone from within that isn’t known as a top coordinator or nfl guy something we want? Always trying to find that unknown or catch lightning in a bottle? Keep in mind who Wisconsin and Nebraska are bringing in. Seems relatively risky to promote Simon and hope we hit a home run.
Click to expand...
Jedd Fisch is an NFL guy. I think this board would revolt if the Gophers hired him as an OC (again). Hiring someone based on pedigree rather than talent / fit is a bad policy.

If Fleck thinks that Simon can do the job then he's as good of a hire as any.
 

Ogee Ogilthorpe said:
I'm really struggling to see what so many people see in Matt Simon up to this point to warrant demanding that he be given a shot at the OC for a Power 5 program. It just boggles the mind.

He may have had a hand in calling a bowl game 3-4 years ago that the Gophers ended up winning. This is the primary body of evidence supporting him being the OC? Sorry, gonna need a little more than that.
Click to expand...
He prepared for and called one very big game and excelled. That was the one opportunity he had. Certainly not definitive proof of his ability but it is a good indicator.

You are never going to see more than that until he gets a chance. All coaches are unknown in a particular role until given the chance. Rossi is a great example. Same with Fleck when he got his first HC job at WMU.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
If you believe Justin Gaard, he is tweeting that Kirk C is going to be paid $1.5-million as the OC at Rutgers. Even with the new contract, I believe he was in line to make $900,000 at MN.

so a $600,000 difference. That seems to be enough to convince some people to change jobs.

according to the Daily Gopher, Kirk C at MN was 8th in salary among B1G OC's. His base salary for 2022 - again, according to the Daily Gopher, was $625,000.

also - if I'm reading the contract correctly, Kirk C (or Rutgers) has to pay MN a buyout of $275,000 to get Kirk C out of his contract.

cue Pink Floyd.
Click to expand...
Don't mind if I do...
 


Spoofin said:
Fair enough. I'm just thinking that since TJ6 and RB13 we have looked at our WRs as a con on this team, not a pro. Still, some good points.
Click to expand...
Play calling has guaranteed poor look at receiver.
 

howeda7 said:
This. And the last time we went outside it was a disaster. I'm fine with an external candidate if it's a no-brainer. But if it's someone whose resume isn't clearly superior to Simon, I'd rather go with the devil we know.
Click to expand...
How do you judge a resume better than Simon? Entirely subjective. . Any OC with experience has a better resume . Hell Sanford had a better resume
 

tjgopher said:
Huh? I never compared them.

I simply said KC is going back to a guy who already has fired him once while leaving a guy who has bailed him out at least twice (maybe 3 times).
Click to expand...
Stan the Caddy said "Kirk was fired because Franklin is a jack hole." And you replied: "Indeed. And, now KC is going back to work for a guy who has already fired him once before."

Not sure how someone is not supposed to read that as a comparison of the two firings. But anyway, thank you for correcting me and clarifying that you did not intend that.

tjgopher said:
My point is, KC may not be making great career decisions, as I think it is likely he'll get fired yet again in a couple of seasons. He likely could have stayed with PJ as long as he wanted without any risk of losing his job.

Of course, it is his life and he is making lots of money.
Click to expand...
Good point that at a program like Rutgers you probably don't have a long term future.

Agree that he could've stayed with Fleck longer.


To me it speaks to that he and/or his family just plain do not want to be in Minnesota. But that could also be wrong, I have no inside info.
 


Some guy said:
If it’s Simon I hope he is successful.
Click to expand...
No kidding?

Why would any Gopher fan ever purposefully root against any coach hired for the Gophers?


If he's not successful, it won't be any more meaningful than Sanford's failure.
 


He probably knows Fleck is heading to Michigan and didn’t think he’d take him with.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom