Ciarrocca new OC at PSU
- Thread starter Judge Smails
- Start date
This hire will make more $ than Rahne......how long till he's reminded of the $high expectations$?
Ciarrocca was due to make 1.1 million at Minnesota this year. He wasn't coming to PSU if he didn't have ties to the region.
I think its an excellent hire. Can't profess that I had a #1 or a list.
Correct, they also come here to view our sage recruiting expertise and to learn what they should have done different during games.
Our coaches still don't know what Minny did to beat us....what a bunch of inept, overpaid clowns.
stats can be misleading......PSU's schedule contains some more intimidating defenses than Minnesota or Western Michigan. But, hope springs eternal.......Its a good hire.
Rahne's new gig isn't much of a step up, if at all, to put it nicely. New salary is 750k for five years at Old Dominion, a job he "relentlessly pursued" and which probably only involves a very slight pay raise. His predecessor's next job was for 2.75, then extended to 3.2 million at an SEC school. This is the career progression for highly successful blue blood coordinators. They only go down in class to prove that they belong back up.
Ciarocca, a semifinalist for the Broyles award for top assistant coach in the country this year (Brady won), also a top candidate for the OC position at Texas, turned down overtures from West Virginia last year, and was set to make about 1 million in 2020. Almost assuredly, he will make that or more at PSU.
Rahne did pretty well to parlay what I think was going to be a scenario in which he wasn't going to be retained into an opportunity to go prove himself as a head coach elsewhere. By all accounts, he's good people and I hope he does well, but this is clearly an attempt to upgrade. Why so many people have dug in their heels on this subject is baffling to me.
I think it runs both ways, but the argument is better if you win - regardless. Heard interviews this past week from college football insiders in the south and west coast about Ed Orgeron. The folks in the south were expressing their huge mea culpas about how wrong they were in having him on their hot seat list for 2019. That if he did not have a season better than 2018 he was gone. The folks from the west coast were saying how heart broken he was to have to leave USC, how much he was loved by his players, and how much he loved it there. They also related how it was Pat Haden and the USC administration and cultural police who said he wasn't a good fit for their values i.e. not polished enough. Don't know if any of it's true but that's what I heard and read. Sometimes you can go home again, and if that desire brings passion, peace, and strength, then PSU is a big winner with the new OC being a Pennsylvania guy.
Isn't every hire an attempt to upgrade?
It really isn't about Rahne. Its about the fact that all someone needs to do is coach here until the weeping and finger pointing starts. I'm confident that it won't take more than 2 or 3 games to see our new OC savaged.
I think he is in the top three of the OC's who are "on the market or approachable". Brady, Yurcich, and Ciarrocca would be my top three choices and to land one of these three is a home run.
It goes to show that JF and PSU can attract the best coaching and players out there. I'm sure Ciarrocca will be in contact with Caleb Williams, Braden Davis, and several of the PA kids as soon as he is allowed.
So you are saying that we’ll have a schematic advantage? Does that mean that former Patriots OC and ND head coach will be an advisor?
Good read....
Link: https://distinctathlete.com/2019/12/26/offensive-coordinator-kirk-ciarrocca-leaving-for-penn-state/
"He was due for a raise after head coach P.J. Fleck’s contract extension made available $1.05 million to boost the salaries of his assistant coaches in 2020. Presumably the offer from Penn State upped his salary even further, but I suspect family was also a factor in his decision. Ciarrocca is originally from Pennsylvania and his family still lives in the area."
"Penn State has found its new offensive coordinator and the hire comes from within in the Big Ten.
As first reported by the Pioneer Press and later confirmed by Penn State, Minnesota offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca is leaving the Gophers to be the next offensive coordinator at Penn State.
Ciarrocca, a Lewisberry, Pennsylvania, native joined the Minnesota staff in 2017 after serving as the offensive coordinator at Western Michigan for five years.
Minnesota’s offense averaged 34.3 points per game in 2019 which was 22nd in the nation.
Ciarrocca has also been rumored to be a leading candidate for the Texas offensive coordinator position. According to the Pioneer Press, Ciarrocca has been targeted by Auburn and West Virginia in past seasons for his services."
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I think he's a much better choice than Brady. Brady is a fanboys superhero. The reality is that he hasn't been without training wheels. The only way I could see Brady as a top hire would be if he could bring Burrow and Co. with him.
If you are referring to “taking shots” for big plays, then I’ve found something you and I agree on. I heard the saying “die of a thousand paper cuts” the other day while watching a college game. I’d rather chunk plays of 12-20 yards versus 40-yard throws.
OL
This is a solid hire.
The most important job of the OC is what happens on non-game days -- it's preparing the offensive skill players to execute with confidence. I think Rahne understood Xs and Os, had good schemes, but I don't think Rahne passed the test in terms of player development.
You look at how the skill players blossomed at Minnesota -- not just Morgan but their receivers and backs. They played with a lot of confidence -- it reminded me of how McSorley and receivers blossomed under Joe Moorhead.
If you can combine that kind of preparation with the kind of talent PSU recruits at the offensive skill positions -- it should be a very potent thing.
I really like the hire because the ceiling is very high and the floor is high. I don't see much if any downside risk. This guy should be able to step right in and produce at PSU in his first season -- though we should keep in mind that the best seasons will be seasons 2 and 3.
You look at how the skill players blossomed at Minnesota -- not just Morgan but their receivers and backs. They played with a lot of confidence -- it reminded me of how McSorley and receivers blossomed under Joe Moorhead.
If you can combine that kind of preparation with the kind of talent PSU recruits at the offensive skill positions -- it should be a very potent thing.
I really like the hire because the ceiling is very high and the floor is high. I don't see much if any downside risk. This guy should be able to step right in and produce at PSU in his first season -- though we should keep in mind that the best seasons will be seasons 2 and 3.
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anon_is9z1n0h3zblb
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thanks BWI........Love that he is diving right in. Big advantage to get to know the players watching practice and game. I imagine from this quote, "his willingness to make this an easy transition for our players" means PSU terminology will remain the same and KC will tweak and add where/what he wants. This is not a complete overhaul like when Moorehead came in, which, at the time the total overhaul was very much needed. Makes spring ball much easier rather than a transitional period for the players which is very important. The foundation remains constant with KC adding his touch.
Huh? Brady is probably the only OC hire that would/could have been more "flashy" than this. This is a big one. Who, realistically, would have been a more "flashy" hire than this?
Bill O'Brien rubbed against Tom Brady for a few seasons. Who gained the most? Brady won super bowls before BOB and after BOB.....but never with BOB. BOB is 1-3 in the playoffs and has yet to develop a QB of his own. Charlie Weis became a multi millionaire because folks were convinced "his" schemes won Super Bowls. LOL
x and o are important.......but its still Jimmy and Joe.
Those Minnesota wideouts played like Godwin and Blacknall and Hammy played in 2016 for Joe Moorhead. It's coaching. What PSU was missing the last two years is coaching.
PSU is always going to have plenty of talent at wideout (not that they can't use more). There is plenty of talent already on the roster for PSU to have a really potent passing game again next year.
This is super exciting news for Clifford and George and Dotson -- they're going to have a lot more fun next year.
PSU is always going to have plenty of talent at wideout (not that they can't use more). There is plenty of talent already on the roster for PSU to have a really potent passing game again next year.
This is super exciting news for Clifford and George and Dotson -- they're going to have a lot more fun next year.
I noticed this too. But the counter to this take is that has Ciarrocca ever had a TE with the talent of Pat F/Gesicki? Their fans also note that he wasn't a fan of throwing to RBs out of the backfield during his time in Minny. More than likely it was a "talent" thing rather than "scheme" when it came to Minny's roster. Hopefully Seider/Bowen can collaborate to continue to make the TE/RB positions a strength in the passing game.
A couple of really positive things being discussed by their fans were the development of the WR and QB positions, something PSU has lacked over the past two years.
See, and "they" accuse me of mocking the true blue fans here. I would not be surprised one bit that you would be correct!
Another big benefit of this hire is you get all of the intel about how another Big Ten team attacks your schemes.
Come on.....these guys wouldn't be satisfied with Jesus Christ....one game and they'd swear he wasn't half as good as his Father.
Lets think for a minute how Brady would have fit in at PSU. One year he is a low level coach/analyst, a couple years later he is now the boss of the offense? Might be tough on the guys that have been around since he was an analyst. Though there was some turnover, still ML and TB were there.
Did he overlap with Maxx Williams or was Williams gone when Ciarrocca arrived?
That's where we disagree. What you are looking at is not just a hiring, it's a termination for poor performance relative to expectations. This followed by a 25-30% greater allocation of resources in an attempt to improve what they appear to view, like a lot of people here, as an underperforming product. CJF just has a classy way of going about it. All in my view, of course.
That is an opinion based on reality. Reality and what gets proclaimed here are in different orbits.
I did post a few weeks back that we lost Moorhead, Gattis and Huff....yet made no attempt (at least to my knowledge) to find a spot for Brady. To me that was telling.
Santa left some nice presents under Ciarocca's tree -- a veteran OL, a stable full of Running Backs, and a capable, improving QB.
To me the "PA guy" aspect means that he is less likely to want to move on to another job if one presents itself.
It's silly to judge Rahne on one game. I judge Rahne on two seasons worth of games and two seasons of player development. He was OK but PSU was never going to have the kind of offensive sophistication that Ohio State, Minnesota and Michigan (after they absorbed Gattis' system) showed this year.
I don't know if Ciarrocca is going to be another Ryan Day, but it's definitely a big upgrade from what PSU has had the last two years.
This is a really nice Xmas present for the whole PSU community. I'm thrilled that Franklin saw what a lot of us were seeing, that for PSU to continue its upward path, it needed a stronger person in this very important job.
I don't know if Ciarrocca is going to be another Ryan Day, but it's definitely a big upgrade from what PSU has had the last two years.
This is a really nice Xmas present for the whole PSU community. I'm thrilled that Franklin saw what a lot of us were seeing, that for PSU to continue its upward path, it needed a stronger person in this very important job.
