How players reacted to the Penn State Nittany Lions hiring former Minnesota OC Kirk Ciarrocca
Penn State wideout Mac Hippenhammer swore he wasn’t surprised on Christmas, when James Franklin gathered the team in a circle after practice to announce their new offensive coordinator.
Ideally, Franklin told them, he would’ve waited until after Saturday’s Cotton Bowl to avoid any distractions. But he wanted the Nittany Lions to hear from him first, not Twitter or the media, that former Minnesota OC Kirk Ciarrocca was coming to Happy Valley.
And Hippenhammer staunchly maintained Thursday afternoon that the former Golden Gopher was his pick all along.
“For some reason, I kind of saw it coming. I saw it coming,” he repeated during media availability inside AT&T Stadium. “There were the names out there (in the media) for openings, and he was one of them. I just had a feeling he would end up here somehow.”
Fellow wideout KJ Hamler nodded: “Mac said it from the beginning.”
Ciarrocca was one of the obvious candidates that was speculated about, ever since Ricky Rahne left to become Old Dominion’s head coach a little over two weeks ago. Ciarrocca grew up in Pennsylvania as a Penn State fan, and Franklin said in early November that those two have known each other for a long time.
In a lot of ways, Franklin’s Wednesday announcement to the team — and official Thursday release — made a lot of sense. Ciarrocca won a national title at Delaware, broke numerous offensive records at Western Michigan in 2015 (points, total yards, touchdowns) and then broke them again in 2016, and guided Minnesota to its first 10-win regular season since 1905.
“Initially when Franklin broke the news to us, I thought it was a great hire,” safety Garrett Taylor said. “Obviously with the Minnesota game this past year, that offense did a really good job of being really efficient and converting on explosive plays and doing what they needed to do to outplay us.
“And to see how well they were coached, and how smart that quarterback (Tanner) Morgan was, and attacking our defense — knowing he’s bringing that to Penn State is big-time.”
According to several players, the timing of the announcement took most of the team by surprise. When Franklin told them it was Ciarrocca, a few players yelled, “I knew it! I knew it!” while most just smiled and nodded.
“Some guys didn’t know exactly who he was,” offensive lineman CJ Thorpe acknowledged, explaining opposing coordinators aren’t exactly household names among players. “It was kinda like, ‘Oh, OK. Cool. Yeah.’”
“Personally, I’m excited,” Thorpe continued. “He has a really good track record. He’s done good things in the past, and he seems excited to come here and work with us — and that makes me excited to have an enthusiastic coach.”
Ciarrocca made a brief appearance in Arlington, Texas, on Thursday morning. He shook hands and met with a few players, but most said they planned to sit-down with him later.
He is not expected to coach in Minnesota’s Outback Bowl against Auburn on Jan. 1.
Ciarrocca’s hiring has mostly been met with positive reactions, from fans, players and analysts. All three groups witnessed his ability first-hand, when Minnesota carved up Penn State’s top-25 defense on Nov. 9. In that historic 31-26 Minnesota win, where fans stormed the field, Ciarrocca’s quarterback completed 18 of 20 passes for a 90% completion rate, the worst mark allowed by a Penn State defense so far this century, against opponents with more than one passing attempt.
Morgan texted Penn State quarterback Sean Clifford on Thursday — the two played high school ball about 20 miles apart — “and he said nothing but good things about Coach Ciarrocca,” Clifford said.
Added Penn State linebacker Micah Parsons: “It’s a great hire. Obviously, seeing his skills, I just can’t wait for him to get here. ... Obviously he’s what we need to head in the right direction and get to the national championship, so I’m all for it.”
Hamler, who hasn’t yet announced his NFL draft decision, echoed Parsons’ sentiment. That loss to Minnesota hit Hamler hard, and he knows Ciarrocca was a big reason for that.
So, he said, he’s happy to have him on the Nittany Lions now as opposed to game-planning against the Penn State defense.
“I think it’s a good move for us, to be honest,” Hamler said. “Just seeing what he did to us this past season, with Minnesota when we played him, he kind of picked us apart. So I think for us to get him is a great move.”
Penn State’s defensive players seemed more familiar with Ciarrocca because of that November meeting. Parsons said he can’t wait to go against his offense in spring ball, cornerback Keaton Ellis mentioned the challenge of the impending practice battles, and defensive coordinator Brent Pry sung his praises.
On offense, players still weren’t completely sure what to expect. They know his strong track record; they just struggled responding when asked about Ciarrocca’s personality or philosophy. After all, they met him for the first time earlier Thursday.
Hippenhammer was an exception. He was recruited by Ciarrocca when he was still at Western Michigan but, outside of labeling him a “cool guy,” the baseball/football athlete couldn’t remember much. The Broncos were never a serious contender for him, after all.
“Us wide receivers should be happy seeing what Minnesota did and how they utilized their guys,” Hippenhammer added, alluding to the fact the Gophers’ two wideouts were named first-team all-conference.
Tight end Pat Freiermuth shook Ciarrocca’s hand Thursday morning but didn’t get to speak with him. Still, he told reporters last week that he trusted Franklin would hire the right person.
And, on Thursday, he felt that came to fruition.
“I’m very excited,” Freiermuth said. “We’re at the point in this program where we’re expecting to win a national championship, and it’s within our reach. And I think making this hire — he’s had success wherever he went.
“I’m happy that he’s here. He’s a great offensive coordinator.”
This story was originally published December 26, 2019 at 8:11 PM.
