PSU, Georgia adjust to staff changes
JACKSONVILLE, FLA. >> Penn State and Georgia don’t expect any major changes in the TaxSlayer Bowl despite some significant changes to their coaching staffs.
The Nittany Lions (7-5) fired offensive coordinator John Donovan at the end of the regular season — they lost their final three games — and named Ricky Rahne the play-caller for Saturday’s bowl game in Jacksonville.
“Coach Rahne has been involved in the offense, gameplanning, working with the quarterbacks, ever since I’ve been here,” Penn State quarterback Christian Hackenberg said Friday. “For him, it’s been a pretty flawless transition. For us, it’s a guy we know really well, a guy we work with every day as a unit just calling the plays. It’s a different voice, but a lot of the same messages.
“We understand what we have to do. We’ve all been behind him, and it’s been a very smooth transition, at least internally.”
Penn State coach James Franklin hired Fordham coach Joe Moorhead to replace Donovan. Moorhead will install the playbook after the bowl.
“I think you’re going to see similar things from Georgia and I think you’re going to see similar things from Penn State,” Franklin said. “It’s about going out and executing.”
The Bulldogs (9-3) have gone through more upheaval. They fired Mark Richt in late November and hired Alabama defensive coordinator Kirby Smart to replace him.
Richt, who has since been hired at Miami, is taking some of his Georgia staff with him. Running backs coach Thomas Brown is Richt’s co-offensive coordinator and recruiting director Todd Hartley is his special teams coordinator.
Brown remains with the Bulldogs for the bowl. Georgia probably couldn’t afford to let him leave since defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt, offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer and inside linebackers coach Mike Ekeler already are gone.
Graduate assistants will fill-in for the bowl game, while tight ends coach John Lilly calls plays and linebackers coach Kevin Sherrer coordinates the defense.
“Ultimately, it’s not going to change too much,” interim coach Bryan McClendon said. “It’s talked about, and it should be just because it’s change. But systematically, we’re not calling anything different. It’s not a whole offensive overhaul or a defensive overhaul and you’re not going to see anything completely different than what we’ve done.”