Penn State head coach James Franklin is now officially searching for a new special teams coordinator. Joe Lorig is returning closer to his home to take on the role of special teams coordinator and nickels coach for the Oregon Ducks.
Lorig, a native of Washington and a graduate of West Oregon University, will be returning to a job that is much closer to home, which is part of the draw of the Oregon job for Lorig.
“Growing up in the Pacific Northwest and attending college in the state, the University of Oregon has always been my dream job,” Lorig said in a released statement via Oregon’s athletics department. Lorig is also reunited with Orgeon head coach Dan Lanning. Both coached together at Memphis.
.@CoachJoeLorig is coming home to the Pacific Northwest!@CoachDanLanning has officially announced the hiring of Joe Lorig as the Ducks' special teams coordinator and nickels coach. #GoDucks
More: https://t.co/YXy5j7bc3R pic.twitter.com/UTFgRuiJOS
— Oregon Football (@oregonfootball) January 3, 2022
“There’s a lot of things that factor into this, as you guys could imagine, some professional and some personal,” Franklin said in his postgame comments after the Outback Bowl when asked about the possibility of Lorig being pursued by Oregon. “I think you guys know I’ve been pretty adamant in the past about the type of moves, lateral moves, but there’s also some factors when it comes to where guys are from. Both Joe and his wife are from there, so that factors into this thing as well.”
This is the second staff member Franklin has lost this week for what can be perceived as a lateral move as far as positions go. Penn State’s director of football operations Michael Hazel, who had been a longtime staff member with Franklin dating back to their time together at Vanderbilt, left the Nittany Lions to join former defensive coordinator Brent Pry at Virginia Tech, where Pry is now the head coach.
The departure of Lorig means Penn State has an opening for special teams coordinator. Lorig also coached the outside linebackers so that role is currently vacant as well for the time being. However, the addition of Manny Diaz as defensive coordinator is plugging a hole at defensive coordinator and Diaz or some slight reshuffling of responsibilities on the remaining staff could fill the linebacker coaching position. But the role of special items coordinator could result in a fresh hire from outside the Penn State staff.
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