Tag: Kirk Ciarrocca

Kirk Ciarrocca to Penn State is a coup for the Nittany Lions

Big news in Big Ten football

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.

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.

Vegas Odds: Who Will Be The Next Texas Offensive Coordinator?

Sportline has released the Vegas odds for the next Texas Longhorns offensive coordinator.

As the Texas Longhorns prepare for their Alamo Bowl game against the Utah Utes on December 31st, there is still a looming question of who will be the new offensive coordinator for Tom Herman in 2020 following the Tim Beck demotion following their win over Texas Tech.

The team moved swiftly in naming their new defensive coordinator in Chris Ash earlier this month and speculation has run rampant about who will be delivering the calls to quarterback Sam Ehlinger and the Texas offense when they take the field in the 2020 opener in South Florida Bulls at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium on September 5th.

Sportsline has released the Vegas Odds for who is most likely to get the job with no surprises here. All three of the names have been highlighted by Longhorns Wire and most other outlets.

  1. Mike Yurcich, Passing Game Coordinator at Ohio State. Yurcich has Big 12 ties as he was the offensive coordinator for the Oklahoma State Cowboys from 2013-2018 before leaving for the Buckeyes.
  2. Kirk Ciarrocca, Offensive Coordinator at Minnesota. Ciarrocca has been around college football for the better part of the last 25 years. He joined the Minnesota staff in 2017 after a four-year stint at Western Michigan. Ciarrocca also developed NFL quarterback Joe Flacco during his time at Delaware.
  3. Rhett Lashlee, Offensive Coordinator at Southern Methodist. Lashlee has been an assistant in college football since being a graduate assistant for Arkansas in 2006. He was part of the National Championship run at Auburn under Gus Malzahn. He most recently turned the SMU offense to a top teir attack. They ranked 9th in the country.

 

Minnesota’s Kirk Ciarrocca Second Favorite for Offensive Coordinator

It was reported that Mike Yurchich is the favorite for the OC position. Minnesota OC Kirk Ciarrocca could be another possibility for Texas.

Brett McMurphy reported on Sunday that Ohio State’s Mike Yurchich is the leading candidate for the offensive coordinator position. He also reported that current Minnesota offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca could be another possibility for the job.

Currently in this third season as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the Gophers, the Minnesota offense has progressively gotten better in all three years that Ciarrocca has been there. The Minnesota offense is better than it ever has been, as quarterback Tanner Morgan has already set the Gopher single-season passing yard record with 2,975 yards.

Following Head Coach PJ Fleck from Western Michigan, Ciarrocca has also worked for Rutgers under Greg Schiano as a co-offensive coordinator. If there is one thing he can do, it is turn a stale offense into an explosive one. The Gophers averaged 357 yards per game in 2016, the season before he arrived. In 2019, they are above 400 yards a game, averaging 426 yards per game.

You can watch Ciarrocca and the Minnesota offense on New Year’s Day against Auburn in the Outback Bowl. With the official hiring of the offensive coordinator not expected to be announced until after bowl season, Texas will have the opportunity to weigh all of their options.

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