Why QB Sean Clifford is ‘excited’ about leading Penn State’s offense under his 4th OC
Sean Clifford is entering his fifth season as a quarterback at Penn State with a fresh perspective and another new offense.
He’s seen plenty of turnover in his time on campus, from teammates coming and going to coaches doing the same. He’s now on his fourth offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in those five years, but is choosing to look at the bright side of those changes.
“Honestly, I see it as a good thing,” Clifford said Monday morning. “... I’ve had four offensive minds that I can pick. ... You’d like to have a little bit of consistency, but at the same time I feel like I’ve taken advantage of every single person that has walked through this building, from an offensive coordinator perspective. I think that’s gonna benefit myself, my teammates and everybody in the long run as long as we just take it as an opportunity to grow and learn from every person.”
Clifford is the lone veteran in an inexperienced room and is utilizing lessons learned from the 2020 season — when the team started 0-5 and he was benched — to help him move forward and lead in yet another offense, this time under the stewardship of offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Mike Yurcich.
Yurcich has come in with plenty of buzz in the spring, with players like offensive lineman Mike Miranda, tight end Brenton Strange and Clifford citing the amount of energy he brings to the practice field. High-energy coaches can breed high-energy players, but for the redshirt junior quarterback, the energy was already there.
Clifford is known for bringing his own passion whenever he’s on the football field, and that hasn’t changed.
“We’ll butt heads because we’re so similar,” Clifford said with a smile. “... I think it’s a really good relationship. It’s fun and we’re kind of learning that balance within the room. ... When we’re casual, we’re casual, but when we’re working, we are working. I think that’s how I am. I’m a fiery guy. I enjoy the passion that football brings and I think that Coach Yurcich would say the same.”
That kind of passion can be channeled into more energy on the field, which should come in handy for Clifford this season. The new offense he’s expected to lead is one that — according to safety Jaquan Brisker — emphasizes speed.
“(It’s) very fast,” Brisker said with a laugh. “Super fast, I would say. He came in with a plan, you can tell he’s all business. He’s going to make you tired.”
Unlike last year, Clifford won’t currently have to look over his shoulder at a hard-charging position mate. The departure of Will Levis — who assumed the starting role for a game after Clifford was benched — for Kentucky means he’s the only quarterback on the roster with meaningful snaps at the position.
Redshirt freshman Ta’Quan Roberson is entering his third year on campus but has done little more than mop-up duty in the little game action he’s seen and freshman Christian Veilleux arrived on campus in January. Those two aren’t in a position yet to challenge Clifford for the job, but he sees the improvements both are making in spring practice and is doing his best to make sure they’re ready if their number is called.
“The main goal for me, currently, especially with the young guys in our room, is to give them as much knowledge, as much power, and kind of feed them as much information as I can that would be helpful for them in the future,” he said. “I’ve been grinding with them on the board, in the film room, just making sure we go over every look that they might get in practice.”
The spring practice reps have been valuable for his backups but they’ve proven to be crucial for Clifford, as well. Transitioning between four different offensive coordinators in five years is difficult enough as it is, but last season he and the rest of the offense were tasked with learning then-offensive coordinator/QBs coach Kirk Ciarrocca’s offense without the benefit of taking live reps.
Instead, Clifford and the rest of the quarterbacks were forced to take hold of the offense remotely because of the coronavirus pandemic, and it led to some challenges he and his weapons needed to overcome. There was very little opportunity to throw passes to his wide receivers, especially to one who emerged as one of his key targets in the 2020 season.
“The first time that I threw to Parker (Washington) was actually two weeks before the first game,” Clifford said. “(That) was the first time that I really got a bunch of reps with him. It makes you appreciate this time now even more.”
That’s no longer the case, as Clifford is already throwing passes to his teammates in spring practice and preparing for a new offense that features the kind of energy he can bring, while learning from the issues he had in 2020. The redshirt junior quarterback is prepared to show he’s a different quarterback than the one who was a part of the team’s 0-5 start last season, and is ready to lead the Nittany Lions in 2021.
“It was definitely a difficult year for everybody, including myself,” Clifford said. “I learned so many things about leadership and hard work and just staying the course, honestly. ... I understand times of adversity. I’ve had both now, I’ve had triumph and trials. And I appreciate every single bit of it throughout my whole career.
“But it’s not even close to being over yet. So I’m excited for what lies in the future.”
This story was originally published March 29, 2021 at 2:59 PM.
