The Kirk Ciarrocca era at Penn State ended
after just one season, as Penn State announced
on Jan. 8 that Mike Yurcich had been hired as the
team's new offensive coordinator and quarter-
backs coach.
With the surprise move, the Nittany Lions are
bringing in one of the most successful offensive
coordinators in the country. Yurcich has helped
develop high-scoring of-
fenses at Oklahoma State,
Ohio State and Texas.
While his arrival resulted
in Ciarrocca's dismissal
after a season in which the
Lions finished second in
the Big Ten in total offense
(430.3 yards per game) and
third in scoring offense
(29.8 points per game),
Yurcich had been on James
Franklin's radar screen for
a while. The veteran PSU
coach decided he couldn't
pass up the opportunity to bring Yurcich aboard
when Texas ousted Tom Herman and his staff in
early January.
The 45-year-old Yurcich, a native of Euclid,
Ohio, and a graduate of California University of
Pennsylvania, has worked with the likes of
Mason Rudolph, Justin Fields and Sam Ehlinger
and will be bringing his expertise in quarterback
development to a Penn State offense that will
NEWS
& NOTES
F O O T B A L L
Yurcich hired
to oversee
PSU's oense
MIKE CHECK
During his lone
season at Ohio
State, the Buck-
eyes fielded the
third-highest-
scoring offense
in the Football
Bowl Subdivi-
sion. Photo
courtesy of
Ohio State Ath-
letics
BY NATE BAUER
nbauer@bluewhiteonline.com
