New Penn State OC Mike Yurcich talks relationship with Franklin, coaching philosophy and more
Since being announced as Penn State football’s new offensive coordinator in early January, Mike Yurcich’s life has been a blur.
There’s been the move to Pennsylvania, trying to get on the same page with the rest of the Nittany Lions’ coaching staff and recruiting to build for the future. The 45-year-old has had to juggle all of these tasks while getting to know the players he has on the roster and beginning to implement a brand-new offense.
“It’s been a bunch of fun,” Yurcich said Tuesday over Zoom during his introductory press conference. “This is what you love to do, so it hasn’t been one day of work yet.”
Yurcich — who was the offensive coordinator at Texas last season after having the same position at Oklahoma State for six seasons — added that it has taken “a lot of hours and a lot of communication” to build early chemistry with the coaching staff. And that’s just the first step.
Though Nittany Lions players are excited to start learning a new offense, Yurich feels it’s most important to make sure the rest of the staff is comfortable with the new scheme first.
“I know these players are chomping at the bit to learn our schemes, and we’re starting to meet with the players to install our schemes,” Yurcich said. “But we want to make sure that we’ve got all our T’s crossed and I’s dotted and we’re organized as a staff.”
COACHING JOURNEY
Yurcich’s rise in the college football world happened seemingly overnight about eight years ago. That’s when he was pried away from his role as offensive coordinator at Division II Shippensburg University to be the offensive coordinator on head coach Mike Gundy’s staff at Oklahoma State.
Since then, Yurcich has proven himself to be one of the brightest offensive minds in college football. And he’s continued to learn and grow at each stop along the way.
“(With) everybody you work for, there’s gonna be influences and people that you’re gonna learn from,” Yurcich said.
In his time with the Cowboys — from 2013 to 2018 — Yurcich led offenses that were top-20 nationally in scoring in five out of his six seasons. He also helped quarterback Mason Rudolph achieve consecutive 4,000-plus-yard passing seasons in 2016 and ‘17.
Then, as the passing-game coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Ohio State for one season in 2019, Yurcich coached quarterback Justin Fields to a 3,000-plus-yard passing season and a third-place finish in Heisman Trophy voting.
And last season at Texas, the Longhorns ranked No. 19 in yards per game (475.4) and No. 8 in points per game (42.7) under Yurcich’s play-calling.
“I think every coach that I’ve worked for has had an impact on me throughout the years,” Yurcich said.
HISTORY WITH JAMES FRANKLIN
By now, it’s no secret that Yurcich had been on head coach James Franklin’s radar long before Franklin made the decision to hire him last month.
Yurich was high on Franklin’s list of potential candidates at the end of 2019, when Penn State looked to fill the opening left behind by offensive coordinator Ricky Rahne’s departure to be the head coach at Old Dominion. It ultimately didn’t work out then, of course, with Yurcich joining head coach Tom Herman’s staff at Texas and the Nittany Lions bringing in offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca from Minnesota.
But the admiration Yurcich and Franklin had for one another remained consistent. So much so that Franklin jumped on the opportunity to snag Yurich this time around.
“Coach Franklin and I have had several discussions over the years that have taken their course over a long period of time,” Yurcich said. “... Going all the way back to our playing days, we’ve crossed paths many times.”
Yurcich said that his relationship with Franklin “has grown over the years” and that the two “see a lot of things the same way” when it comes to football and coaching philosophy.
“I think there’s a mutual respect there,” Yurcich said. “And the most important thing with that relationship is that we see things eye to eye and there’s a parallel vision, as far as offensive philosophy goes.”
OFFENSIVE PHILOSOPHY
When breaking down his style of offense, Yurcich said the three most important elements revolve around being physical, smart and skilled.
“The game hasn’t changed in over 120 years or however long it’s been played — it’s still won up front,” Yurcich said. “We’ve gotta be physical up front. We’ve gotta do a great job of recruiting up front. And then we have to put speed on the field — playmakers.”
Another key characteristic of Yurcich’s offenses has always been to play fast.
Though Yurcich admits that running a high-tempo offense “can harm you if you’re not careful,” he knows that ramping up the pace of play limits the amount of time that defenses are able to spend communicating between plays.
“You’re trying to really handcuff them into minimizing how much information they can communicate between each play,” Yurcich said. “From position to position, they’ve gotta get their strength; they’ve gotta get their goal. So, you’re trying to minimize that. You’re trying to exhaust them; you’re trying to wear them out and get them huffing and puffing.”
As he enters his first spring with Penn State, Yurcich understands the importance of being adaptable based on the personnel he has available. But, at the same time, he’s more than confident that the Nittany Lions’ current roster features enough weapons for him to succeed.
“It’s important to get the players — there’s no question about it,” Yurcich said. “And we have good players here at Penn State, and I’m excited to get to work with them.”
This story was originally published February 2, 2021 at 5:05 PM.
