Here’s 3 things to know about Penn State football’s new OC, Mike Yurcich
Penn State decided to switch things up at offensive coordinator — again.
On Friday, head coach James Franklin surprised many by announcing the firing of offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca after just one season and the hiring of offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich. The move marks the third offensive coordinator the Nittany Lions have brought in over a four-year stretch.
Ciarrocca didn’t come in and make the immediate impact many thought he would after three stellar seasons as Minnesota’s play-caller.
The Nittany Lions ranked No. 37 in yards per game (430.3) and No. 54 in points per game (29.8) in a 4-5 2020 season. Redshirt junior quarterback Sean Clifford struggled heavily at times behind an offensive line that didn’t perform up to par for most of the year, and Ciarrocca called what many deemed to be questionable plays — particularly the red zone fade routes — throughout the season.
There were plenty of challenges Ciarrocca faced, though. With spring practices canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, it was tough to build chemistry with a staff that featured two other first-year coaches on offense or install a new system.
Still, Franklin felt a change was needed after just a nine-game sample size.
Yurcich, who was the offensive coordinator at Texas in 2020, has a track record of leading high-scoring, exciting offenses at the FBS level. The Longhorns ranked No. 19 in yards per game (475.4) and No. 8 in points per game (42.7) last season.
Here are three things you should know about Penn State’s new signal-caller:
YURCICH’S PENNSYLVANIA TIES
Before Yurcich spent last season at Texas, he was most known for the work he did as Oklahoma State’s offensive coordinator from 2013-18. The 45-year-old led offenses that ranked in the top 25 in points and yards per game in each of his last four seasons with the Cowboys.
But even before his tenure in Stillwater, Oklahoma, Yurcich was already turning heads in Pennsylvania.
Yurcich played quarterback at Division II California University of Pennsylvania for three seasons in the late 1990s. Then, six years after graduating, he returned to the Keystone State as the quarterbacks and wide receivers coach for Division II Edinboro University in 2005 before being the offensive coordinator at Edinboro from 2006-10.
His final stop before moving up to the Division I level was at Division II Shippensburg University, also in Pennsylvania, where he was the offensive coordinator from 2011-12.
It was at Shippensburg where Yurcich did enough to catch the eye of Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy. Under Yurcich, Shippensburg had one of the most potent offenses in all of Division II in 2012.
Yurcich’s deep Pennsylvania ties should help Penn State in recruiting in-state talent moving forward.
TRACK RECORD AS A QB WHISPERER
Yurcich has coached a few elite quarterbacks in his eight years at the FBS level.
At Oklahoma State, he helped Mason Rudolph achieve back-to-back 4,000-plus-yard passing seasons in 2016 and ‘17. Rudolph won the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award — an award given annually to the nation’s top upperclassmen quarterback — as a senior in 2017. And he finished his collegiate career as the Cowboys’ most winningest quarterback in school history.
Then, after leaving Stillwater, Yurcich became the pass game coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Ohio State in 2019. While with the Buckeyes, he coached Justin Fields to a 3,000-plus-yard passing season and a third-place finish in Heisman Trophy voting in Fields’ first season as a starter. Fields also took home the Big Ten’s Griese-Brees Quarterback of the Year award that season.
And just last season at Texas, Sam Ehlinger threw for 2,566 yards, 26 touchdowns and only five interceptions in the Longhorns’ 10-game season under Yurcich’s tutelage.
Franklin hopes Yurcich can help Clifford turn things around after a rough 2020 campaign.
In 2019, Clifford threw for 2,654 yards, 23 touchdowns and seven interceptions while leading the Nittany Lions to an 11-2 season that ended with a Cotton Bowl victory. But last season, Clifford struggled — especially early — and ended the year with 1,883 passing yards, 16 passing touchdowns and nine interceptions through nine-games.
It’ll be interesting to see the impact that Yurcich has on Clifford this fall.
HISTORY BETWEEN YURCICH AND FRANKLIN
When former Penn State offensive coordinator Ricky Rahne left at the end of 2019 to become the head coach at Old Dominion, Franklin was looking to hire somebody who would revamp the Nittany Lions’ offense.
Yurcich was very high on Franklin’s list of candidates.
Franklin even called Gundy and head coaches at Yurcich’s other previous stops to inquire about the man whose rise up the college football ranks happened seemingly overnight, according to The Athletic’s Audrey Snyder.
But, for one reason or another, Penn State ended up prying Ciarrocca away from Minnesota just days before Yurcich officially joined former head coach Tom Herman’s staff at Texas.
With the Longhorns firing Herman last week, Yurcich was looking for a new home. And Franklin — who may have felt pressure to make a change after the Nittany Lions’ first losing season since 2004 — was able to snag the guy he’s had interest in for over a year. Although unexpected, it was the perfect marriage.
While Penn State has boasted elite defenses since 2016 — leading the Nittany Lions to three 11-win seasons and New Year’s Six bowl appearances in that stretch — its offenses have been average. In Franklin’s seven years as head coach, the Nittany Lions have only finished in the top 25 in either yards or points per game in three seasons.
Yurcich has the chance to change that, though, and take Penn State to new heights in the process.
