Ciarrocca new OC at PSU
- Thread starter Judge Smails
- Start date
Not necessarily the flashy hire but he fits James franklins offensive philosophy and they looked pretty good against us.
Well, now we can eliminate one of the OCs who knows how to defeat our defense.
JF talking about not getting back until 4 am from what looks like his interview with Ciarrocca was probably a good hint. He had the same long interview before he hired Moorhead.
Very surprised at this. Not because of his credentials but because of the fact JF and PJ are good friends and he snagged his OC. Interesting.
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anon_xdc8rmuek44eq
Guest
I'll reserve judgement until I hear from the board experts
Well, two of their usual complaints are out the door.....he’s never beat B10 level opponents (Morehead) and it’s not a program that should be OJT (Rahne). It will be interesting to see what their gripe is about this hire.
Kirk Ciarrocca: offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach, Minnesota
Ciarrocca has Pennsylvania roots as a Lewisberry native and as a former defensive back at Juniata College. He coached at Temple and Delaware Valley College during his early years.
In the days leading up to Penn State’s contest against Minnesota, Penn State coach James Franklin was complementary of what Ciarrocca has accomplished.
Ciarrocca’s offense this year produced two 1,000-yard receivers in and Rashod Bateman (1,170 yards and 11 touchdowns) Tyler Johnson (1,114 yards and 11 touchdowns). Golden Gophers quarterback Tanner Morgan has thrown for 2,975 yards and 28 touchdowns against six interceptions. Minnesota’s ground game averages 175.7 yards per contest, and it ranks fourth in the Big Ten in total offense (426.8 yards per game).
Kirk Ciarrocca (Minnesota):
Born in Pennsylvania and a graduate of Temple, Kirk Ciarrocca has been a bright spot in Minnesota's resurgence this season. Penn State got to see his work from up close in Minneapolis and James Franklin was complimentary of Ciarrocca both before and after the game. One would imagine Penn State has the muscle to win a bidding war against Minnesota, but if nothing else the chance to call plays at Beaver Stadium might be enough to lure him off of PJ Fleck's staff.
Kirk Ciarrocca, Minnesota OC/QB Coach
Dating back to their time at Western Michigan, Pennsylvania native Kirk Ciarrocca has spent the past seven seasons as PJ Fleck’s offensive coordinator. As the Nittany Lions painfully witnessed last month, his Golden Gopher offense is very good.
Under his guidance, Minnesota quarterback Tanner Morgan burst onto the scene this past season completing 66.1% of his passes for 2,975 yards, 28 touchdowns, a 180.4 QB rating, and just 6 interceptions.
Ciarrocca’s RPO attack is efficient, potent, and tough to defend. His offense is similar to what the Nittany Lions run, and should make for an easy transition for Sean Clifford and company. With the coaching of Ciarrocca, Clifford and the Nittany Lion offense could be one of the best in the Big Ten in 2020.
During the 2019 season, Ciarrocca made $710,000. This is a number that Penn State can easily out bid if they would wish to do so. Ciarrocca could also be someone that may stick around as an offensive coordinator for more than just two or three years, which could be a plus.
Kirk Ciarrocca had no intention of giving away his game plan, obviously, but the Gophers offensive coordinator wasn’t shy in sharing his overall mind-set in preparing to face one of college football’s stingiest defenses.
“This might surprise you a little bit,” he said. “We’ve got to do what we do.”
He used that exact phrase twice. Do what we do. In other words, run the ball. Control the clock. Be physical. Throw play-action passes to their star wide receivers. Same old, same old.
Maybe this was a case of a coach using the media for pregame subterfuge, knowing he has something else up his sleeve. Or maybe Ciarrocca was merely sending an honest, direct message to everyone involved in a clash of unbeatens that features a classic strength vs. strength matchup.
The Gophers offense is on a historic pace scoring points, headlined by a collection of skill players that is unique by program standards. Penn State fields one of the best defenses in college football, headlined by two players who rank among the best nationally at their positions: defensive end Yetur Gross-Matos and linebacker Micah Parsons.
The Gophers love to run the ball. The Nittany Lions boast the nation’s No. 2-ranked run defense. This is a big-boy matchup.
Ciarrocca insists he won’t deviate from his true self.
“If you’re coming into this game expecting to see a different offense, you’re going to be disappointed,” he said. “You’re going to see what we do and what you’ve seen over the course of my three years here. They create some very big challenges for us. But I feel like we have a pretty good offense, too.”
The Gophers rank 14th nationally in scoring (38.4 points per game) and have reached 34 points in seven consecutive games for the first time since 1905. The Gophers rank in the top 10 nationally in third-down conversions and time of possession, which go hand in hand. They desire to control the clock with a physical running game that, in turn, creates advantageous situations for their dynamic receiving corps, led by future NFL players Tyler Johnson and Rashod Bateman.
Ciarrocca has Pennsylvania roots as a Lewisberry native and as a former defensive back at Juniata College. He coached at Temple and Delaware Valley College during his early years.
In the days leading up to Penn State’s contest against Minnesota, Penn State coach James Franklin was complementary of what Ciarrocca has accomplished.
Ciarrocca’s offense this year produced two 1,000-yard receivers in and Rashod Bateman (1,170 yards and 11 touchdowns) Tyler Johnson (1,114 yards and 11 touchdowns). Golden Gophers quarterback Tanner Morgan has thrown for 2,975 yards and 28 touchdowns against six interceptions. Minnesota’s ground game averages 175.7 yards per contest, and it ranks fourth in the Big Ten in total offense (426.8 yards per game).
Kirk Ciarrocca (Minnesota):
Born in Pennsylvania and a graduate of Temple, Kirk Ciarrocca has been a bright spot in Minnesota's resurgence this season. Penn State got to see his work from up close in Minneapolis and James Franklin was complimentary of Ciarrocca both before and after the game. One would imagine Penn State has the muscle to win a bidding war against Minnesota, but if nothing else the chance to call plays at Beaver Stadium might be enough to lure him off of PJ Fleck's staff.
Kirk Ciarrocca, Minnesota OC/QB Coach
Dating back to their time at Western Michigan, Pennsylvania native Kirk Ciarrocca has spent the past seven seasons as PJ Fleck’s offensive coordinator. As the Nittany Lions painfully witnessed last month, his Golden Gopher offense is very good.
Under his guidance, Minnesota quarterback Tanner Morgan burst onto the scene this past season completing 66.1% of his passes for 2,975 yards, 28 touchdowns, a 180.4 QB rating, and just 6 interceptions.
Ciarrocca’s RPO attack is efficient, potent, and tough to defend. His offense is similar to what the Nittany Lions run, and should make for an easy transition for Sean Clifford and company. With the coaching of Ciarrocca, Clifford and the Nittany Lion offense could be one of the best in the Big Ten in 2020.
During the 2019 season, Ciarrocca made $710,000. This is a number that Penn State can easily out bid if they would wish to do so. Ciarrocca could also be someone that may stick around as an offensive coordinator for more than just two or three years, which could be a plus.
Kirk Ciarrocca had no intention of giving away his game plan, obviously, but the Gophers offensive coordinator wasn’t shy in sharing his overall mind-set in preparing to face one of college football’s stingiest defenses.
“This might surprise you a little bit,” he said. “We’ve got to do what we do.”
He used that exact phrase twice. Do what we do. In other words, run the ball. Control the clock. Be physical. Throw play-action passes to their star wide receivers. Same old, same old.
Maybe this was a case of a coach using the media for pregame subterfuge, knowing he has something else up his sleeve. Or maybe Ciarrocca was merely sending an honest, direct message to everyone involved in a clash of unbeatens that features a classic strength vs. strength matchup.
The Gophers offense is on a historic pace scoring points, headlined by a collection of skill players that is unique by program standards. Penn State fields one of the best defenses in college football, headlined by two players who rank among the best nationally at their positions: defensive end Yetur Gross-Matos and linebacker Micah Parsons.
The Gophers love to run the ball. The Nittany Lions boast the nation’s No. 2-ranked run defense. This is a big-boy matchup.
Ciarrocca insists he won’t deviate from his true self.
“If you’re coming into this game expecting to see a different offense, you’re going to be disappointed,” he said. “You’re going to see what we do and what you’ve seen over the course of my three years here. They create some very big challenges for us. But I feel like we have a pretty good offense, too.”
The Gophers rank 14th nationally in scoring (38.4 points per game) and have reached 34 points in seven consecutive games for the first time since 1905. The Gophers rank in the top 10 nationally in third-down conversions and time of possession, which go hand in hand. They desire to control the clock with a physical running game that, in turn, creates advantageous situations for their dynamic receiving corps, led by future NFL players Tyler Johnson and Rashod Bateman.
Very nice - he was my personal 1B candidate after Brady. Proven playcaller who’s had a lot of success, and should do well here.
sure hope PPB hates him
Yeah that means he will be awesome.
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anon_is9z1n0h3zblb
Guest
Would really like to know the new pool for assistant salaries if we outbid $1.1 million by enough for him to make the jump.
Here’s some samples: “Worst case imaginable”, “We’re doomed”, “What is Franklin doing”, “ We’ll never be elite”, “Great a one year wonder”, “Kiss the 2021 class goodbye”, “ Can’t even beat Iowa and Wisky”.
He removed all the Minnesota stuff from his twitter profile. This is coming out of the Minnesota side, which makes sense considering how tight lipped the Penn State side has been. We won’t hear anything from PSU insiders until 10 minutes before the press release is sent out. I believe it’s legit.
Ciarrocca stripped his twitter account of all Minnesota stuff.
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anon_is9z1n0h3zblb
Guest
Its not the "splash" hire many of us probably were hoping for but he was also the QB coach and Tanner Morgan was impressive.
I think we also see more slants and crossing patterns than were in JoMo's offense and or RR's. Which might be a good thing.
Funny, I searched for Ciarrocca on twitter to find his account and came across that Pioneer Press article that was 1 minute old. Woah!
Good hire if true. Lot of experience and did a great job at Minny this year.
bwifan
Well-Known Member
I like this hire ... Solid background and track record and a PA native coming home.
I think it’s a solid hire. I questioned paying 30 year old Brady big money when he had never called plays.
All I can say is, I’m glad we’ve moved on. I’m tired of cringing when watching us on O.
Probably not but Minnesota had two 1,000 yard receivers this year definitely can’t hurt.
I think that he may be able to help our defense as well by showing what Minn. did to our defense.
Minn showed the way to attack our defense by running physically, and running crossing patterns and the utilization of tall receivers.
Minn showed the way to attack our defense by running physically, and running crossing patterns and the utilization of tall receivers.
It looks like James identified his target and successfully recruited him. Obviously.
That’s the same source but other things are adding up. I like it. Another PA guy. Quality coach.
Minnesota fan comments
Sucks big time...gut punch.
he's clearly the guy Fleck trusts the most.
this hurts. I think KC had proven to be our most valuable assistant coach.
Him leaving is tough but its even worse he isn’t leaving the B1G.
My biggest concern is who on the staff, can be as good at developing the QB. To me what will be missed the most is his ability to evaluate and then coach up QBs.
Sucks big time...gut punch.
he's clearly the guy Fleck trusts the most.
this hurts. I think KC had proven to be our most valuable assistant coach.
Him leaving is tough but its even worse he isn’t leaving the B1G.
My biggest concern is who on the staff, can be as good at developing the QB. To me what will be missed the most is his ability to evaluate and then coach up QBs.
So, what time does his flight get to Dallas?
I like this hire from outside looking in..PA native, senior guy with 25+ yrs coaching experience including Joe Flacco and others. His recent success at Western Michigan and Minny. Similar offense won’t have to completely change things yet bring a different perspective. Probably help Clifford a lot and will add some wrinkles. Also, may not be a flashy ego guy, again outside looking in- who may stay a long time thus consistency and continued success.
Big question is how does Fleck feel? Lol pissed off at both or you think he was like good luck I understand lol..
Excited to see what he can do, wish him and our program the best of luck and great success in 2020!
Big question is how does Fleck feel? Lol pissed off at both or you think he was like good luck I understand lol..
Excited to see what he can do, wish him and our program the best of luck and great success in 2020!
I just like taking something from Minnesota. Show them what's up.
Ohio State has been doing that for years, no big secret. I'd like to know if he is leaving Minnesota now or will call the bowl game for them.
This guy made Rahne look like a fool head to head. The system he ran at Minnesota seems a bit rigid, but those guys are clearly very well coached. Major upgrade over Rahne.
