Wow: Kirk Ciarrocca Takes OC Job at Rutgers

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U2Gopher said:
I think this could be a very important time in PJ’s tenure as head coach at Minnesota. Does he stick with the same type of status quo offensive philosophy or does he realize the same thing that Saben and Smart did several years ago? That to compete on an elite level you have to open up the playbook to be more creative and explosive. While I wouldn’t pitch a fit if he hired internal with Simon, it would signal to me that we will continue with the same basic philosophy. Now that isn’t all bad. It gets us 8-9 wins almost every year and I’m happy overall…..for now. However, I’d also like to see us compete at the top of this conference, which is about to get tougher with the addition of USC and UCLA. I think PJ needs to find someone very creative, possibly with NFL experience, who can open things up, at least much more than what we do now. Just my opinion which doesn’t mean much I know.
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Spoofin said:
Simon? Bring in someone with some successful experience. I’m not even sure Simon has succeeded as a WR coach.
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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.
 

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.
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I think what people see is:

1. He's from Minnesota
2. The Rossi promotion worked great
3. Called the game in which we dominated Auburn
 

Some guy said:
Because our offense has been painful to watch the last 3 seasons?
What is attractive about an internal hire?
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I felt no pain watching our offense. We won 9 games. Our recruiting ranking for 2023 was ninth. Winning 9 games with a below average recruiting into MSP seems like pretty good performance to me. I'm guessing you enjoy lots of passing. I like winning as much as possible with the players we can get to come to the TCs.
 



FanSinceTheFifties said:
I felt no pain watching our offense. We won 9 games. Our recruiting ranking for 2023 was ninth. Winning 9 games with a below average recruiting into MSP seems like pretty good performance to me. I'm guessing you enjoy lots of passing. I like winning as much as possible with the players we can get to come to the TCs.
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Nice!
I like winning more than losing.
And though this team has won 9 games 2 straight years…competent offense in 4 specific games would have won them 4 games and 1 west title (Bowling green and Illinois in 21, Purdue and Iowa in 22)

I guess if you were an Iowa fan you’d be satisfied with their offense as well since they have also averaged 8 and 10 wins.

That’s fine, you can feel free to think we have a good offense


I would prefer to try to get better.
 

Gophers_4life said:
...... Mike Sanford Jr.

Somehow, I don't think you're appreciating how big of a mess that turned into and how desperate Fleck was to get out from beneath it.
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Fleck could of hired any number of people to replace Sanford. Desperate? Coming off a 9-4 season. That's you grasping at straws. Ciarocca was available and he wanted to come back to Minnesota. Fleck got snowed by Ciarocca. He could of stayed at West Virginia. Ciarocca seems to be a coaching whore. Who's going to pay me a few more dollars?
 


MaxyJR1 said:
Here's the thing. Fleck has a really small tree to fall back on. He coached for Kill, Schiano, and Tressel. He ascended to HC quickly. (Grad Assistant to HC in 7 years) Guys go for the $$ and connections. Every guy that has left has gotten a promotion, raise, or had a history with the coach they went to work for. Not a one of them had any tie to the University of MN.
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This ^^^
 



Some guy said:
Nice!
I like winning more than losing.
And though this team has won 9 games 2 straight years…competent offense in 4 specific games would have won them 4 games and 1 west title (Bowling green and Illinois in 21, Purdue and Iowa in 22)

I guess if you were an Iowa fan you’d be satisfied with their offense as well since they have also averaged 8 and 10 wins.

That’s fine, you can feel free to think we have a good offense


I would prefer to try to get better.
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Nothing wrong with trying to get better. The Gophers have done that in the Fleck era.
 

tjgopher said:
I would say it is based on the fact he was the play-caller in two game-winning bowls (Tampa, Phoenix) and that he's developed two 1st round draft pick WRs and has a couple more in the NFL, too. He's got a dynamic personality, has a Minnesota background, is familiar with the players, the staff & the community, and might actually consider staying on the job for multiple years.

Now, is that enough to promote him? Not sure.

But, that is likely what the love is based on.
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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.
 

CoachBrewMotivator said:
The only reason I thought that assessment was off is because Ciarrocca just received a 3 year extension in like, mid-December?

I understand he hadn’t yet received the Rutgers offer. But why offer, and then accept, a 3-year extension of all things knowing it’s short term?
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People forget someone else posted that they are not happy about this in Dinkytown.
 

Haven't seen this floated yet but could this move be driven by KC feeling Rutgers has the better path to P5 head coach opportunity (Fleck - 42 yo, just signed an extension VS Schiano - 56, nothing to prove)? Not sure if he has the aspiration but he is the oldest of the three and his chances will be expiring soon...
 



Gofurgold said:
Haven't seen this floated yet but could this move be driven by KC feeling Rutgers has the better path to P5 head coach opportunity (Fleck - 42 yo, just signed an extension VS Schiano - 56, nothing to prove)? Not sure if he has the aspiration but he is the oldest of the three and his chances will be expiring soon...
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I don't think KC has any aspiration to be a P5 head coach. Not the right personality.
 

Gophers_4life said:
...... Mike Sanford Jr.

Somehow, I don't think you're appreciating how big of a mess that turned into and how desperate Fleck was to get out from beneath it.
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Nah, it wasn't that big of a mess.

Gophers_4life said:
Come now. After one season? He was scapegoated by Franklin, to save his own hide. Anyone can see that
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Exactly my point. He left a good situation and got FIRED after one season in his new spot. Then worked as an analyst, with his next best option coming at Minnesota two years later. From an employment standpoint that is a total failure in my opinion. Quibble if you must.

Gophers_4life said:
Says who??
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Says the fact that after KC was fired at Rutgers, his next job was at Richmond coaching QBs for an interim head coach and when that ended, he moved on to coach running backs at FCS Delaware, who finished last place that year and the head coach got fired at the end of that season. He was an OC at neither place and was likely no where near getting a shot at being a coordinator any time soon.

PJ comes along and saves the guy. And, then saved him again after the PSU chaos.

And, now he's gone again. He has a knack for making money, credit him for that.
 
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FullBanana said:
I think what people see is:

1. He's from Minnesota
2. The Rossi promotion worked great
3. Called the game in which we dominated Auburn
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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.
 

tjgopher said:
A total failure in that he was fired. I wasn't referring to the on-field performance. Trust me, I know the situation and have those facts. I wasn't referring to them. You can see I was in that post referencing his employment history.

What I was referring to was KC left a good situation behind and got fired in 12 months at the new situation. To me, that is a total failure from an employment perspective. Bad enough that he was hired an as analyst the next year, not anywhere as a coordinator. And, then his next best thing was to come back to Minnesota two years later.

To me - employment wise - that move turned out to be a total failure.

Quibble if you want, maybe total failure was overstating it. Either way, he left behind a good situation and got terminated in a year at his new situation. Not ideal.

Remember, he almost left for West Virginia as an OC the year before he left for PSU.

Bottom line, PJ threw the man at least two life vests and he has now rejected them all.

I'd suggest there's a decent chance KC will be fired in two more seasons at Rutgers.
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Fair enough. I understand that perspective. Kirk was fired because Franklin is a jack hole. So in that case…careful who you work for.
 

Some guy said:
I get this but at the same time TCU is the lowest level program to make a national title game in the playoff era and they’re doing it with a brand new system this year.


Consistency is important but Quality is more important than consistency
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It's a mixed bag. We've seen what years of inconsistency in coordinator spots does for us in the win/loss column and in terms of player development, particularly at qb. I've railed on this a bit lately, but I'd rather have consistency and a known commodity than gamble on a wildcard. We've done the wildcard thing for decades now with little to no sustained success aside from PJ. I'd rather stick with our current formula of promoting within when we can and when it's logical rather than going outside and crossing our fingers we'll hit a home run. I'd wager that compared to the eventual on field results, home runs on paper strike out more than they lead to new heights.

That being said, whoever ends up being the OC, whether internal or external, will get every bit of my support. I trust Fleck. Just my two cents. I also appreciate the back and forth banter!
 


Dave H said:
And the rest of the games? You are pimping a guy over one game and ignoring the rest of the season.
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I don’t think the outcome of your counter-argument makes any sense.

Simon was a great position coach … for one game, and crap for the rest? I don’t think that’s how that works.
 

howeda7 said:
I don't think it's the end of the world. But losing your OC to a lateral move to a worse program isn't a good look. And this many staff losses in one cycle is problematic.
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Maybe my experience in corporate America has numbed me to people leaving. Turnover has been approximately 33% on average year over year in our company. Also on average, I get a new manager every 2 years. The first couple of times it happened, I spent many an hour analyzing, fretting and reading into things. Now I hardly flinch. The deck chairs get shuffled a bit, but the ship keeps on sailing.

Other than the OC and DC, I don't think I could name another assistant on the staff at any given point without looking it up. I believe this churn is a relatively common occurence in the coordinator and position coach ranks.

The offense was serviceable but I certainly wouldn't call it a juggernaut. I for one look forward to a new OC that hopefully has a little more creativity than what has been shown the last 3 years.
 


Gophers_4life said:
I don’t think the outcome of your counter-argument makes any sense.

Simon was a great position coach … for one game, and crap for the rest? I don’t think that’s how that works.
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I'm not making a counter argument, I'm pointing out the absurdity of yours. You are pimping Simon because the Wisconsin game was awesome so might as well hire from within. Well the offense was problematic most of the year so is that also on Simon?

You can't have it both ways. If you are ok with an internal hire because of one game you have to acknowledge that that game is only one data point in a season with an offense that was suspect.

I have no real care either way if he gets the job but your reasoning sucks.
 

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.
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Unlikely you will get what you are asking for here. As fans we have no inside knowledge on the inner workings of the offense and how involved or not Simon really was.
 

Stan The Caddy said:
Fair enough. I understand that perspective. Kirk was fired because Franklin is a jack hole. So in that case…careful who you work for.
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Indeed. And, now KC is going back to work for a guy who has already fired him once before.
 

Ciarocca cares about 2 things, in this order:

1. Money
2. Location

Everything else is a vast distance from #2.
 



Dave H said:
You are pimping Simon because the Wisconsin game was awesome so might as well hire from within. Well the offense was problematic most of the year so is that also on Simon?

You can't have it both ways. If you are ok with an internal hire because of one game you have to acknowledge that that game is only one data point in a season with an offense that was suspect.
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My post only said about the one Wisc game this year?

I didn’t allude to the rest, in the same post?
 


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