Wow: Kirk Ciarrocca Takes OC Job at Rutgers

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Gophers_4life said:
Fleck just got out from beneath the anchor of Sanford, sees KC sitting there at WV as an analyst, and makes him a deal? “Hey, how about this, come back here, work with Tanner again, get back on your feet as a play caller. If you get another opportunity out East, I’ll support you and wish you best of luck.”

How do you know it wasn’t like that?


I made that up out of thin air, mind you. I’m just asking you to be at least a little bit open minded.
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Then Fleck isn’t as smart as I think he is. Come help me with “cultural sustainability” but if you leave after one season that’s fine. “I’ll support you”. You think that’s what Fleck is looking for in an OC???
 

Gophers_4life said:
I’m going with:

Burns - got opportunity to be a HC from a RB coach, easy yes
Haynes - worked with Fickell 2005-2011, good relationship with him
DL coach to Purdue - apparently mutual agreement to part ways
Kirk C - (family?) wants to get back East where they’re from, only came back to MN to get out of a rut

Just bad timing/luck that these all stacked up
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The DL coach worked with the Purdue head coach at Missouri for multiple years.
 


I believe Simon was still co-oc last year, maybe it was in name only. I expect he will get the gig, we will hire a QB coach (probably also name them co-oc).

I’d love it if we had a shot at Willie Korn - oc/Qb coach at coastal Carolina and now liberty. Thst Coastal Offense is really fun.
 

From program savior to hated lol. If he leaves he leaves, not that big of a loss but I’d hire from the outside for sure.
 


One thing I like with Simon, if he does pan out, you’d think he’d have a good chance of sticking around a while.
 


I don't have any particular opinion about KC leaving, a lot of us work in cutthroat fields where there is no loyalty either way and when things go very poorly you get shown the door. You have to do what's best for you, your family, and your life outside of work when you have the opportunity to do so and if KC is doing what's best for him in those regards, so be it. Thanks for your contributions to two great seasons of Gopher FB.

I personally hope Simon has a desire to be the OC, and that he's fast tracked into the position if he is. The players need consistency and familiarity to keep executing at a high level, if we go outside of the program I fear we'll stall for at least a year due to various changes a new face brings in. I also don't want a revolving door and Simon would likely stay if he's successful, as was mentioned previously.
 




MNVCGUY said:
The part we don't know and tends to get overlooked is whether or not Simon actually wants to be an OC. It gets said that Fleck passed on him but I don't know that it was ever confirmed he was even a candidate.

Not every position coach wants to be a coordinator. Not every coordinator wants to be a head coach. I have no clue what Simon truly wants but none of us truly knows if he even wants to be the primary OC.
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For sure. And I’ve said this in the past

If we hire him it could be okay.
None of us really know how he would be. Fleck probably knows the best how he would be. If we hire him it’ll hopefully be great.

Eye test I would rather go somewhere outside. Calling plays in a bowl game 4 years ago is the best thing on his resume.
Developing Bateman is the second best thing on his resume.
The team having a good passing game in the last regular season game last year in a game that he didn’t call is the third best thing on his resume.


I would rather try to poach an FCS head coach to be a coordinator tbh but it’ll likely be fine whatever we do. As the offense is more flecks than any one person (which is why the offense looked largely schematically the same from 2017-2022 even with coordinator changes)
 

Some Day...Maybe said:
Then Fleck isn’t as smart as I think he is. Come help me with “cultural sustainability” but if you leave after one season that’s fine. “I’ll support you”. You think that’s what Fleck is looking for in an OC???
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When he says cultural sustainability he is saying he is building a program that can sustain individual losses and still perform. While he wasn’t looking for the Oc to leave after one year I think being able to have success next year in spite of this is exactly what he is talking about
 

mngg11 said:
.

I personally hope Simon has a desire to be the OC, and that he's fast tracked into the position if he is. The players need consistency and familiarity to keep executing at a high level, if we go outside of the program I fear we'll stall for at least a year due to various changes a new face brings in. I also don't want a revolving door and Simon would likely stay if he's successful, as was mentioned previously.
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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
 

I hope pj brings in someone new for OC. Simon was the co-oc during the 2021 season. 2021 was not elite
 



Gophers_4life said:
Fleck just got out from beneath the anchor of Sanford, sees KC sitting there at WV as an analyst, and makes him a deal? “Hey, how about this, come back here, work with Tanner again, get back on your feet as a play caller. If you get another opportunity out East, I’ll support you and wish you best of luck.”

How do you know it wasn’t like that?


I made that up out of thin air, mind you. I’m just asking you to be at least a little bit open minded.
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Why would PJ do that? Zero chance. None.

This is a poor look for KC. More money or not, east coast or not.

KC is now leaving a man (PJ) who gave him an OC job at WMU when KC couldn't get one literally anywhere else, then brought him into the Big Ten from WMU, then took him back after a total failure at PSU.

And now, KC has chosen to go to work for a man (Schiano) who fired him in 2010 at the very same program that still has very little upside.

And, doing it all just a few weeks after agreeing to a three-year extension at Minnesota for about $1m per year.
 
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So much love for Simon, and based on what? Other than blind optimism that is
 

Spoofin said:
So much love for Simon, and based on what? Other than blind optimism that is
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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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Some Day...Maybe said:
No way it was a short term deal. It’s an asshole move and Ciarocca can suck it. Lost all respect for the man. Don’t come back if you don’t want to be here. PJ must of got snowed. I wouldn’t talk to the guy if I was Fleck. I’d say you’re dead to me, get the hell out.
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Fleck would be more than a little bit of a hypocrite if he acted like that, considering he returned to NIU after accepting the OC job under Doeren, then left that job the very next day to go and coach WRs with Schiano.
 

Spoofin said:
So much love for Simon, and based on what? Other than blind optimism that is
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He's one of us!

In all seriousness though, I think I would lean toward trying to find an up-and-coming OC from a lower level school that already has OC experience. But I won't think it's the end of the world if they hire Simon.
 


holereader said:
I think maybe PJ and Kirk had a difficult conversation for breakfast?? Just saying
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LOL -- I think it went something like this:

KC - PJ - I am afraid I have some bad news for you - I am leaving again to go to Rutgers.
PJ -- What? Didn't you just get a hefty raise a month ago?
KC - Yeah but I want to go back home again.
PJ - How did that work out for you last time? It was only a year ago they rode you out of Penn St after only a year. It was a disaster.
KC - I've done all I can do here. Rutgers is a tremendous opportunity for me.
PJ - You do realize I stuck my neck out for you. You fell on your face, I took you back and you really didn't have an elite year here, either. Regardless, I helped get you a raise and now you are leaving to yet another Big Ten school. I guess you know there won't be a third time here.
KC Sorry.
 


Gold Rush said:
LOL -- I think it went something like this:

KC - PJ - I am afraid I have some bad news for you - I am leaving again to go to Rutgers.
PJ -- What? Didn't you just get a hefty raise a month ago?
KC - Yeah but I want to go back home again.
PJ - How did that work out for you last time? It was only a year ago they rode you out of Penn St after only a year. It was a disaster.
KC - I've done all I can do here. Rutgers is a tremendous opportunity for me.
PJ - You do realize I stuck my neck out for you. You fell on your face, I took you back and you really didn't have an elite year here, either. Regardless, I helped get you a raise and now you are leaving to yet another Big Ten school. I guess you know there won't be a third time here.
KC Sorry.
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So, the third time’s not the charm?
 

short ornery norwegian said:
well, I don't see a separate thread on this, so someone has to ask the Big Question?

WTF is going on at MN?

three assistant coaches leaving in the same week? right after Burns leaves for a HC job. that's 4 assistant coaches leaving - including one coordinator.

Is it money?

does it have something to do with personalities?

Look, Haley and Haynes each had prior relationships with the HC's who hired them. Burns got a shot at being a HC. those are understandable.

But Kirk C. making a lateral move - to a less successful program? Yes, he worked with Schiano before - but that was 12 years ago.

I have no inside information. just human experience of working at various jobs.

So I will just say this. all things being equal, you are less likely to leave a job that you like or a situation that you're happy with. you are more likely to leave if you don't like your current situation, or you think you can do better somewhere else. And - Fleck's new contract included higher pay for assistant coaches, so that makes money less likely as an issue.

Somebody - Fleck - Coyle - somebody - needs to be asking some questions about what is going on.

in closing - I will be watching the portal very closely to see if all of the coaching changes have an impact on the Gophers' roster.
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Leave been losing three to four assistants a year since 2019. Will be fine
 

Said this last year and will say it again: nobody knows better than PJ whether Simon is ready to be an OC in the B1G. Being an OC is a lot more than calling plays. Gameplanning, practice planning, coaching multiple positions, managing a staff of offensive assistants, recruiting, etc. If Fleck hires Simon, he thinks he can handle all of the above. If not, he doesn't. Simple as that. I'm not saying Fleck would be 100% right in whatever decision he made, but those are the factors he'll be considering.

FTR, I have no preference either way and am just hoping for the best possible outcome. SUM-RTB-GG.
 


I don't mind the others moving on......but this one sucks. Feels like a slap in the face and a real lack of loyalty. But maybe i'm being a baby..... :cool:
 



cheeseheadgophfan said:
I don't mind the others moving on......but this one sucks. Feels like a slap in the face and a real lack of loyalty. But maybe i'm being a baby..... :cool:
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This one is different because you would think with Fleck bringing KC back for a second go around that there would be some loyalty. For him to jump ship in 1 year to go to another Big Ten school is pretty crappy on KC's part.

Assistant coach/coordinator turnover is just a reality of college football. Staffs staying together the way Kill's group did is definitely not the norm.

Fleck needs to hit a home run with this next OC hire. Whether that means promoting Simon or bringing in someone from the outside, he needs to get someone that will be around for multiple years and really put their stamp on things.
 


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