Penn State head coach [autotag]James Franklin[/autotag] has always taken pride in sticking with his guys on his coaching staff, which made it hard when the time came to finally part ways with one assistant that just wasn’t working out in Happy Valley early on in his tenure with the Nittany Lions. John Donovan was Franklin’s first offensive coordinator at Penn State, carrying over the position he held on Franklin’s staff at Vanderbilt prior to their arrival in State College.
But after two seasons, Donovan was relieved of his duties and Franklin went in another direction with [autotag]Joe Moorhead[/autotag]. Safe to say, that worked out quite well for Franklin, Moorhead, and Penn State.
Meanwhile, Donovan has continued his coaching career with multiple stops since his departure. Now, he is returning to the NFL to serve as a senior analyst.
The Green Bay Packers put the finishing touches on their football staff for the upcoming 2022 NFL season this week. Among the additions to the staff was Donovan as a senior analyst for Packers head coach Matt LaFleur.
The former Penn State offensive coordinator joins the Packers after a two-year run as the offensive coordinator for the Washington Huskies, with the Pac-12 program ranking 115th in total offense in 2021 and 57th in 2020.
Since his departure from Penn State, Donovan has been an offensive quality control coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars, followed by two seasons as an offensive assistant for the Jaguars, and a season as the assistant running backs coach before returning to the college game on Washington’s staff in 2020.
Here is an update on where Franklin’s former Penn State offensive coordinators are entering the 2022 season.
- John Donovan (Penn State offensive coordinator 2014-2015): Green Bay Packers senior analyst
- Joe Moorhead (Penn State offensive coordinator 2016-2017): Akron head coach
- [autotag]Ricky Rahne[/autotag] (Penn State offensive coordinator 2018-2019): Old Dominion head coach
- [autotag]Kirk Ciarrocca[/autotag] (Penn State offensive coordinator 2020): Minnesota offensive coordinator and quarterback coach
- [autotag]Mike Yurcich[/autotag] (Penn State offensive coordinator 2021-present)
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