Breaking: Kirk Ciarrocca out as Penn State offensive coordinator, replaced by Mike Yurcich
Penn State has made a change at offensive coordinator after one season. Offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca has been let go by the Nittany Lions and Penn State head coach James Franklin and replaced by former Texas offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich, according to a release from Penn State football.
“First, I would like to thank Kirk for his contributions to our program last year,” Franklin said in a release. “This was a difficult decision, but felt it was best for our program to make a change. We wish him and his family all the best in their future endeavors.”
The decision comes just over one year after the former Minnesota offensive coordinator was hired by Franklin to replace Ricky Rahne, who took the head coaching job at Old Dominion.
Yurcich will arrive on campus after spending a year with the Longhorns. Prior to that, he spent a year at Ohio State as the passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach, six years as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Oklahoma State and two years at Shippensburg University as the offensive coordinator.
“I’d like to thank Head Coach James Franklin, Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics Sandy Barbour and President Eric Barron for the opportunity to be the offensive coordinator at Penn State University,” said Yurcich in the release. “Having spent 11 years in the state of Pennsylvania as a player and coach, I understand the significance of this duty and will represent properly and with humble pride.”
His FBS offenses rank first among all offensive coordinators in the country in yards per play with an average of 6.49.
“We are excited to have Mike join our staff,” Franklin said in the release. “He is an impressive offensive mind and talented play caller who has set records everywhere he has been as an offensive coordinator. I look forward to seeing what he can do with all of the offensive weapons we have here at Penn State. I have followed Mike’s career for a long time, dating back to his time in the PSAC at Shippensburg and Edinboro. We look forward to bringing Mike and his family back to Pennsylvania.”
Ciarrocca’s offense struggled to gain footing in his lone season on campus, but showed signs of life as the year wore on. He predicated his attack at Minnesota on a run-heavy approach and that started to take shape at University Park late in the season with freshman running back Keyvone Lee leading the way.
The former offensive coordinator’s only offseason was made difficult by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic that eliminated spring practices and delayed the installation of his offense.
His offense finished No. 24 in SP+, a tempo- and opponent-adjusted measure of college football efficiency created by ESPN’s Bill Connelly. Yurcich’s only offense at Texas finished No. 8 in SP+.
This story was originally published January 8, 2021 at 11:00 AM.
