Confirmed: Penn State football parts ways with offensive line coach Matt Limegrover

Penn State will have to fill a second spot on its coaching staff this offseason.

Offensive line coach/run game coordinator Matt Limegrover has been let go, sources with knowledge of the situation told the Centre Daily Times. Penn State confirmed Tuesday afternoon that Limegrover’s contract has not been renewed.

“We appreciate all of Matt’s contributions to our program for the last four seasons,” head coach James Franklin said in a statement. “We wish Matt and his family all the best in the future.”

Limegrover came to Penn State in 2016 after Penn State head coach James Franklin’s first offensive line coach, Herb Hand, left to take the same position at Auburn. Limegrover added the title of run game coordinator in 2018 and has held that title ever since.

He took the job at Penn State after spending five years at Minnesota, where he was the assistant head coach/offensive coordinator/offensive line coach from 2014-15 and the offensive coordinator/offensive line coach from 2011-13.

Penn State will be on its third offensive line coach under Franklin, with Hand and Limegrover as the previous two. The unit helped the Nittany Lions on their way to the No. 17 offense in the country, according to Bill Connelly’s SP+ rankings. SP+ is a tempo- and opponent-adjusted measure of college football efficiency, according to Connelly.

Franklin already filled one position this offseason after former offensive coordinator Ricky Rahne left to take the head coach position at Old Dominion. He filled the spot with another former Golden Gopher, Kirk Ciarrocca, who was Minnesota’s offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach from 2017-19.

Franklin will immediately begin a national search for Limegrover’s replacement, Penn State said.

This story was originally published December 31, 2019 at 11:41 AM.