Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1201503
critics of his game day operation. Those critics pounced after the game, and at his presser the following week, Franklin returned fire, noting that there are many factors that determine whether a play works or not. "I'm not saying I'm always right," he said. "But it's easy after the fact to say that that was a bad decision when we don't execute." Criticism is inevitable when you're holding down the most outward-facing job at a major public university. Penn State's average home attendance sur- passed 105,000 this past season, in part because Franklin has been working re- lentlessly to promote the program. When that many people watch you play every week, you had better be prepared for a range of opinion about how well you're doing. What's more, outcome-based criti- cism is a sports talk staple. If the call worked, it was brilliant. If it didn't work, it was idiotic. It's easy for coaches to dismiss that kind of criticism because it's inherently unfair. They don't have the luxury of waiting to see how every- thing plays out before passing judgment. They're making decisions in real time. But shrugging off unfair criticism is part of the job. And besides, just because the masses are clamoring for something doesn't necessarily mean they're wrong. The hiring of Ciarrocca, while obviously based on a large body of work, not just one game, feels like an acknowledge- ment that the Gophers were exception- ally well-prepared to face Penn State this past November and that the Nittany Lions could use some of that expertise in the Lasch Building. Ciarrocca oversaw a unit that finished fourth in the Big Ten in scoring and total offense. As quarterbacks coach, he helped Morgan, a former three-star prospect whose offers were mostly from schools in the Mid-American Confer- ence, develop into the Big Ten's second- most-efficient passer with a 180.4 rat- ing. A native of Lewisberry, Pa., Ciar- rocca was able to devise a game plan that produced a win over an opponent that, at the time, was in strong con- tention for the College Football Playoff. As it happens, that's exactly what the Nittany Lions want to do in the years to come. This winter, he'll start pursuing that goal. Ciarrocca gets to work with an of- fense that is expected to return 31 of the 36 players listed on the Cotton Bowl depth chart, including nine starters. The Lions have a veteran offensive line. They have a returning starter at quarterback. They have a future NFL tight end, and they have a deep backfield that is about to get even deeper with the arrival of two more four-star running back prospects. The one big question mark on offense is the receiver corps, which was looking a bit thin even before K.J. Hamler an- nounced that he would be leaving early A T T H E 2 0 2 0 N I T T A N Y L I O N S GOLD STANDARD In his third and final season as offensive coordi- nator at Min- nesota, Ciarrocca's Golden Gophers finished fourth in the Big Ten in total offense, av- eraging 432.0 yards per game. Photo courtesy of Minnesota