Yurcich named offensive coordinator at Penn State

Penn State football coach James Franklin fired offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Kirk Ciarrocca after one season, replacing him Friday with former Texas coordinator Mike Yurcich.

Ciarrocca left Minnesota in December 2019 to join Penn State as a replacement for Ricky Rahne, who became head coach at Old Dominion. Yurcich will be the fourth offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach pending fifth year senior QB Sean Clifford would tutor under.

In Ciarrocca’s only season, the Nittany Lions averaged 29.8 points, which ranked third in the Big Ten, and 430.3 total yards, second in the conference. But they struggled in the red zone, scoring just 19 touchdowns on 37 trips inside the 20.

“First, I would like to thank Kirk for his contributions to our program last year,” Franklin said. “This was a difficult decision, but felt it was best for our program to make a change.”

Yurcich has 22 years of college coaching experience, including 15 seasons as an offensive coordinator. He spent several years in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference, first as a player at California and then as offensive coordinator at Edinboro (2006-10) and Shippensburg (2011-12).

He spent six seasons as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Oklahoma State (2013-18) and one year at Ohio State (2019) as quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator before going to Texas.

In his career as a Football Bowl Subdivision coordinator, Yurcich’s offenses have averaged 6.49 yards per play, which ranks first among coordinators since 2013, and 14.03 yards per completion.

“We are excited to have Mike join our staff,” Franklin said. “He is an impressive offensive mind and talented play caller who has set records everywhere he has been as an offensive coordinator.”

With Yurcich in 2020, the Longhorns ranked eighth in the FBS in scoring (42.7 points per game), 16th in pass efficiency and 19th in total offense (475.4).

“Having spent 11 years in the state of Pennsylvania as a player and coach,” Yurcich said in a statement, “I understand the significance of this duty and will represent properly and with humble pride.”

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