The Wisconsin Badgers just watched the landscape shift in the Big Ten. How that landscape will change is still an open question, but when a high-profile offensive coordinator changes schools within the same conference, it is a big story. When that coordinator changes divisions in the conference, it is a big story.
The news broke Thursday morning: Minnesota Golden Gophers offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca agreed to become the new offensive coordinator for James Franklin at Penn State, after Ricky Rahne left Happy Valley to become the new head coach at Old Dominion.
NEWS: #Gophers offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca leaving Minnesota for Penn State, sources tells @PioneerPress.https://t.co/KfndJHnyzl
— Andy Greder (@andygreder) December 26, 2019
The Wisconsin defense and coordinator Jim Leonhard shut down Ciarrocca’s attack in a 38-17 win over the Gophers on Nov. 30. Nevertheless, Ciarrocca — who had been with P.J. Fleck at both Western Michigan and Minnesota — certainly helped Fleck rise to the top of the coaching profession. Ciarrocca just as clearly enabled Minnesota to substantially improve in 2019. In particular, the Gophers beat Penn State and James Franklin. Now, Franklin has snagged Ciarrocca.
We live in a volatile time in the coaching industry — not just in terms of the constant turnover of jobs every coaching carousel, but in terms of hires defying expectations. So many people (myself included) thought Jim Harbaugh would crush it at Michigan. Nope.
So many people (myself included) thought Tom Herman would do really well at Texas. Nope. So many people (myself included) thought Ed Orgeron would fail at LSU. Nope. So many people (myself included) thought Willie Taggart would do reasonably well at Florida State. Nope, nope, nope. Given this reality, home-run hires on paper don’t necessarily become reality. Caution is warranted in predicting how hires will fare at new stops.
That said, it is hard to deny that Franklin got a good coordinator and upgraded the position from Rahne.
If you watched Minnesota beat Penn State, and if you watched Minnesota thrive until it faced Iowa and Wisconsin late in the 2019 season, you know that the Golden Gophers got a lot of production out of their receivers. Penn State got a lot of production out of its receivers under former offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead, who helped Franklin reach the Rose Bowl and win the Fiesta Bowl before moving to Mississippi State. If Ciarrocca merely comes close to matching Moorhead, Penn State will become MORE of a threat to Ohio State in the Big Ten East. Michigan will have a harder time passing PSU.
The good news for Wisconsin in 2020: The Badgers don’t face Penn State in their East crossover games. UW plays Indiana, Michigan, and Maryland in the three East games.