Tag: Ricky Rahne

As Will Levis thrives at Kentucky, ESPN asks why it didn’t happen at Penn State

Why didn’t Will Levis thrive at Penn State the way he is at Kentucky? ESPN examines.

It is nearly impossible to go a week of college football without keeping an eye on how former Penn State quarterback [autotag]Will Levis[/autotag] continues to do with Kentucky. Levis continues to be a high-profile quarterback prospect for the 2023 NFL draft and some draft experts believe there is a chance he could go No. 1 overall. If that is the case, it would be the highest draft pick ever recruited by [autotag]James Franklin[/autotag], which begs the question; why didn’t Levis succeed at Penn State on this kind of level? Perhaps more importantly, why was Penn State holding Levis back so much?

ESPN published a featured story on Levis this week digging into the transfer portal star for Kentucky as a draft prospect and his path to becoming one of the hottest names on the draft board. Levis shared a thought about why he made the move to Kentucky by explaining he just needed his opportunity to shine.

“I’ve always had confidence in myself. I always thought I was the best quarterback in the country, and nobody else was going to tell me otherwise,” Levis said in a story published by ESPN recently. “I just needed the platform to prove it. I needed the opportunity to get comfortable with playing the position at this level, and I feel like that’s something I didn’t have at Penn State.”

Levis is accurate on that point. Levis was backing up [autotag]Sean Clifford[/autotag] while in Happy Valley, and Clifford was giving the coaching staff no reason to make a quarterback change. Former offensive coordinator [autotag]Ricky Rahne[/autotag], now the head coach at Old Dominion, suggested that would have been a tough decision to make given the circumstances.

“Everyone always asks what happened and why Penn State didn’t start Will over Sean,” Rahne said to ESPN. “When we first picked Sean, Will wasn’t ready to start yet, and then it became hard to replace a guy who had won 11 games. People kind of forget that.”

Clifford led Penn State to a Cotton Bowl appearance and a victory in 2019, his first season as the starting quarterback following the graduation of [autotag]Trace McSorley[/autotag]. Clifford did have his struggles during the COVID-impacted 2020 season, but things got better in the second half of the shortened season. But it was after that 2020 season that Levis opted to pursue his opportunity to shine out of the transfer portal, and he quickly took flight with Kentucky in 2021.

“We knew we had to go get him, but because of the way he was utilized at Penn State, you really had to search for certain throws,” Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops said. “There was the Nebraska game from the year before, throws we watched and saw and confirmed what we thought.”

Who knows how things might have turned out if Levis was deemed more ready at the time it came to make a decision on who would ultimately succeed McSorley as Penn State’s starting quarterback, or if Levis had been given an opportunity to lead the offense to his full potential when things were not going well in 2020.

It will forever be a mystery question for Penn State football and head coach James Franklin.

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Ricky Rahne tops Brent Pry in matchup of former James Franklin assistants

Ricky Rahne and Old Dominion topped Brent Pry and Virginia Tech in a Week 1 showdown between former James Franklin coordinators

It was quite an eventful head coaching debut for former Penn State defensive coordinator [autotag]Brent Pry[/autotag] on Friday night. Pry, now the head coach at Virginia Tech, found himself matching wits against his former colleague, [autotag]Ricky Rahne[/autotag], as he coached the Hokies on the road against underdog Old Dominion. And after a night on which his assistants were stuck in an elevator long enough to delay the start of the second half and watching his Hokies turn the football over five times, Pry was on the losing end in his head coaching debut. Rahne, on the other hand, celebrated a major win for his program.

Nothing came easily for Pry’s Hokies, but they did own a 17-10 lead going into the fourth quarter. A short field goal by Old Dominion early in the fourth quarter cut the Virginia Tech lead to 17-13 and a one-yard touchdown run with 33 seconds remaining in the game helped deliver Old Dominion to its second biggest win in program history, and both have come against Virginia Tech. The game-winning touchdown was set up by a deep pass two plays prior, putting the Virginia Tech lead in serious jeopardy.

Rahne’s Monarchs were out-gained 340-245 in total offensive yards, but the Hokies turning the football over five times led to 17 Old Dominion points on the scoreboard, including a wild botched field goal snap that was returned for a touchdown by Old Dominion to take a lead in the second quarter.

Old Dominion’s game-winning touchdown also came following a Virginia Tech turnover when Grant Wells was picked off by Ryan Henry on 3rd and 13 at the Old Dominion 41 with 2:58 left to play. Nine plays later, Old Dominion scored the game-winner. A more conservative approach in that situation to keep the ball on the ground and force Old Dominion to burn a timeout before potentially punting the ball away may be armchair quarterbacking a bit, but it will be a decision that will be reviewed by Pry in reviewing the film.

Rahnecontinues to be doing some terrific work for a program that sat out the entire 2020 season in his first year on the job. After starting the 2021 season with a record of 1-6, Old Dominion won five consecutive games to earn bowl eligibility and has now won six of their last seven games going back to last season. And on Friday night, maybe Old Dominion put the rest of the Sun Belt Conference on notice.

Also, obligatory love for Old Dominion’s biggest fan, Hudson. He is a dog that wears crocs!

Rahne replaced Joe Moorhead as Penn State’s offensive coordinator when Moorhead left the Nittany Lions to become the head coach at Mississippi State. Moorhead has since made a stop at Orgeon as the offensive coordinator and is now back to being a head coach again in 2022. Moorhead coached Akron to an overtime victory on Thursday night against Saint Francis, 30-23.

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A look back at James Franklin’s first staff at Penn State, where are they now?

Where is every member of James Franklin’s first Penn State staff today?

[autotag]James Franklin[/autotag] has become known as a pipeline of sorts for sending members of his coaching staff to open jobs all over the country. Whether it be coordinators to head coaching roles or position coaches to coordinators. No matter the role, James Franklin has shown he not only raises his players, but also his staff.

For example, the return of offensive coordinator [autotag]Mike Yurcich[/autotag] this year will be the first time since 2018-2019 that the Nittany Lions have had the same offensive coordinator for two seasons. Again, that isn’t a bad thing. Like players, you want coaches to grow and move on because it creates relationships everywhere.

Looking back to 2014 when James Franklin made the move from Vanderbilt, his first staff has some big names now that have worked on their own to build a legacy. Check out where they are and have gone since that first season nearly eight years ago under James Franklin.

Former Penn State offensive coordinator hired by NFL team

John Donovan, James Franklin’s first offensive coordinator at Penn State, just landed an NFL job for 2022.

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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Old Dominion gives contract extension to former James Franklin assistant

This former James Franklin assistant was given a contract extension at his new school.

Former Penn State offensive coordinator [autotag]Ricky Rahne[/autotag] is off to a nice start as the head coach of Old Dominion. After taking the Monarchs to a bowl game in the 2021 season, Rahne has been given a contract extension, according to a report from Pete Thamel of ESPN.

Rahne’s new contract will reportedly run through the 2026 season with a one-year extension on his original contract. Rahne is about to enter his third season as the head coach of the Old Dominion program. Rahne’s first season was wiped off the calendar as a result of Old Dominion not playing football in 2020 amid the pandemic.

Despite having a year off from football, Rahne guided Old Dominion to just the second bowl game in program history. Old Dominion may have lost to Tulsa in the Myrtle Beach Bowl, but managing to get the Monarchs to the bowl season at all was an incredible feat. Old Dominion started the 2021 season with a record of 1-6 but the Monarchs won their last five regular-season games to clinch bowl eligibility.

Rahne is guiding Old Dominion into the Sun Belt Conference as the school makes a conference affiliation change during the 2022 season. Old Dominion’s first game of the season will see Rahne go up against Virginia Tech, which is now coached by former Penn State defensive coordinator [autotag]Brent Pry[/autotag]. Pry and Rahne were each members of the Penn State coaching staff under [autotag]James Franklin[/autotag]. Old Dominion faces Virginia Tech on Friday, Sept. 2 in Norfolk.

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Former Penn State offensive cooridinator returning to Big Ten

Former Penn State OC is caught in the middle of an awkward coaching change between Minnesota and West Virginia

It’s been a busy offseason for former Penn State offensive coordinators. Joe Moorhead is getting settled in as the head coach at Akron, and his successor, Ricky Rahne, is preparing to coach Old Dominion in a bowl game this bowl season. As for the coach who came between Rahne and current offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich, there really is no place like home for the holidays.

Kirk Ciarrocca has officially been welcomed back by the Minnesota Golden Gophers as the team’s offensive coordinator. Minnesota head coach P.J. Fleck welcomed Ciarrocca back on Monday, and the return to familiarity for Ciarrocca and Fleck could rejuvenate the Minnesota offense a bit as he gets adjusted.

Penn State hired Ciarrocca to be the offensive coordinator after Rahne was hired to be the head coach at Old Dominion in 2020. Unfortunately for Ciarrocca and Penn State, the new offensive coordinator was never able to get fully ingrained with the roster as the COVID-19 pandemic took away Penn State’s entire spring football schedule and coaches worked via video for the majority of the year.

This is believed to play a part in Penn State’s disappointing 0-5 start to the 2020 season, as the offense was unable to work itself into much of a rhythm until later in the season. Ciarrocca’s one season at Penn State failed to live up to the expectations given the work he had done at Minnesota prior to his arrival.

Franklin moved on quickly from Ciarrocca and brought in Yurcich once Yurcich became available as a result of a head coaching change at Texas after the 2020 season. Yurcich experienced a few offensive concerns during the 2021 season as well, so perhaps Ciarrocca just never got a full shake to see what he could truly do at Penn State.

Ciarrocca spent the 2021 season working as an offensive analyst at West Virginia. In a unique twist to this situation, Minnesota is preparing to face West Virginia in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl in Phoenix. Through a mutual agreement between Fleck and West Virginia head coach Neal Brown, Ciarrocca will not coach in the game for Minnesota, as he started with the Gophers staff on Monday.

Either way, his return to Minnesota should give Gopher fans reason to be optimistic.

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Ricky Rahne hopes to take Old Dominion to a bowl game

Two former James Franklin assistants have teams bowl eligible in their first years as a head coach, including Ricky Rahne and Old Dominion in an improbable run.

While much of the focus around these parts may have been on Penn State’s regular-season finale loss at Michigan State, it was quite an eventful day around the world of college football. Between intense rivalry games having an impact on division, conference, and playoff scenarios and teams battling for bowl eligibility, there was a lot going on in Week 13 of the college football season. Among the schools fighting to become bowl-eligible was Old Dominion, coached by former Penn State offensive coordinator Ricky Rahne.

And in his first season on the sideline with the Monarchs, Rahne is hoping to take Old dominion to a bowl game. And how Rahne’s program got there is quite a story to tell.

First, Rahne was hired to be the new head coach of the Old Dominion program following the conclusion of the 2019 season. Unfortunately for Rahne, he would have to wait longer than anticipated to coach his first game in Norfolk, Virginia. Old Dominion made the decision to not play a college football schedule in 2020 due to concerns revolving around the COVID-19 pandemic. Old Dominion was one of three FBS programs that chose not to play any college football in 2020, joining UConn and New Mexico State in that decision. That put a pause on the debut of Ricky Rahne as a head coach, although he issued a statement at the time remaining committed to the future of the program.

Old Dominion returned to the field this fall, of course, and for a while, it looked like a team that took a year off from playing football. Old Dominion was blasted by Wake Forest and Liberty in two of their first three games of the season, although few would have guessed at the time Wake Forest would be playing in the ACC Championship Game back in Week 1. Rahne got his first coaching victory in Week 2 with a win against FCS Hampton, but the Monarchs started the year off on a 1-6 start to the season. While the first two losses were in blowouts, Old Dominion kept things close in losses to Buffalo, UTEP, and Marshall before suffering a 23-point loss at home to Western Kentucky.

Playing in a bowl game looked like a near impossibility after the 1-6 start to the season. Had Old Dominion lost just one more game, they would have been ineligible for postseason play per NCAA postseason regulations requiring a minimum of six wins to play in a bowl game.

But that’s the thing. Old Dominion didn’t lose another game.

A 23-20 victory against Louisiana Tech at home was the start of a seemingly unlikely five-game winning streak that culminated with a 56-34 victory over Charlotte in the final game of the regular season to clinch bowl eligibility.

Rahne is likely taking Old Dominion to its second bowl game in program history, and its first since the 2016 season. The school moved up to the FBS level from FCS in 2014, when it made the quick jump into Conference USA during a time of significant conference realignment changes around the country.

Rahne is now in a position to have the second winning season in Old Dominion’s brief time as an FBS program, but the Monarchs will have to win their bowl game to do so. And whether or not they will get that opportunity remains to be seen.

There are 82 bowl spots to fill this season, and 83 teams clinched bowl eligibility. That means unless one team pulls out of the bowl season, some program is going to be left at home. And it’s not going to be one of the 13 bowl-eligible teams from the SEC staying home. It’s going to be a Group of 5 program, and Old Dominion could be on the chopping block.

There is still a decent chance Old Dominion will get to play in a bowl game somewhere, and perhaps we will learn more in the coming days. Bowl game matchups will be made official no later than Sunday, December 5.

We’ll be keeping an eye on Rahne’s Old Dominion program.

Charles Huff has Marshall bowling too

Ben Queen-USA TODAY Sports

Another former James Franklin assistant is also taking his program to a bowl game. Charles Huff, who left Penn State and his role as a running backs coach and special teams coordinator to join former offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead at Mississippi State in 2018, just wrapped up his second season as head coach at Marshall. Huff will also be taking his program to a bowl game following a 7-5 season.

This was Huff’s first season as head coach of the Thundering Herd, who came up short of winning the Conference USA East Division crown this fall. Huff did win the head-to-head matchup with Rahne earlier in the season, as referenced above.

We’ll watch to see where Huff will be coaching in the postseason as well.

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