Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1201503
Shortly after Penn State hired Minnesota's Kirk Ciarrocca as its new offensive coordinator last month, quarterback Sean Clifford received a text message from Tanner Morgan, his Golden Gophers counterpart. Morgan "said nothing but good things about Coach Ciarrocca," Clifford recounted. "So I'm just excited to get going." He's not the only one. With the announcement on Dec. 26 that Ciarrocca had been chosen to succeed Ricky Rahne as offensive coordinator and quarter- backs coach, Penn State sent a jolt of excitement through its team and its fan following, and it wasn't the only bold move that James Franklin had in store for his coaching staff. Nine days after announcing Ciarrocca's hiring, Penn State revealed that Phil Trautwein would be joining the staff as offensive line coach. Trautwein had previously been at Boston College, where he was fast developing a reputation as one of the country's top young assis- tant coaches. One other change was in the works, although this one was instigated by another school's bold move: a decision by West Virginia's Neal Brown to hire Gerad Parker away from Penn State. Parker will be the Mountaineers' offensive coordinator and receivers coach after serving just one season at PSU. His deci- sion to leave for Morgantown means that the Lions' wideouts will be adjusting to their fourth position coach in as many seasons. As of this writing, the search for Parker's successor was just getting started. NEWS & NOTES | NEW COACH Trautwein coached five All-Confer- ence offensive linemen at Boston Col- lege this past season. He's set to take over PSU's of- fensive front in 2020. Photo courtesy of Boston Col- lege F O O T B A L L Sta changes bring new leadership to Penn State's oense