Penn State football’s search for a new offensive coordinator came to a close when the team hired Minnesota offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca to fill the same position on James Franklin’s coaching staff.

Ciarrocca will replace Ricky Rahne, who departed Happy Valley to take on Old Dominion’s head coaching gig on December 9. The newest addition to Penn State football spent the past seven seasons working with PJ Fleck as the offensive coordinator of Western Michigan and Minnesota. Before a late-season collapse, the Golden Gophers burst onto the scene as a legitimate Big Ten and national contender in 2019 in no small part thanks to their dynamic offense led by quarterback Tanner Morgan and star wideouts Rashod Bateman and Tyler Johnson.

“We wanted to get a proven play-caller — a guy that’s got a history of calling plays — but also somebody that our systems were similar so there would be some carryover,” head coach James Franklin said at his team’s Cotton Bowl media day on Thursday.

Starting quarterback Sean Clifford told reporters that he was involved in the search for his new offensive coordinator, and he had tons of praise for Franklin because of the hire. With all that in mind, here are three things Ciarrocca will bring to Happy Valley as the team’s new offensive coordinator.

Experience, Experience, Experience

It’s safe to say that Kirk Ciarrocca has been there and done that — at least when it comes to running an NCAA-level offense.

Ciarrocca has worked as an offensive coordinator at the FBS level for the past seven seasons — four with Western Michigan, and the last three with Minnesota. Ricky Rahne had his strengths as a coordinator, but he had never run his own offense prior to the 2017 Fiesta Bowl — his first-ever game as a coordinator.

“From my experience, the more games I’ve played, the better I’ve gotten — and the better I’ve felt. The more looks you see, the better you get, and that’s how football is,” Clifford said. “You can’t just hop out there and expect to be great. You have to put a lot of work in day in and day out. Coach Ciarrocca has had a lot of experience, and that’ll go a long way.”

The offenses he’s run have been very, very good in recent years. With quarterback Tanner Morgan slinging the ball to Tyler Johnson and Rashod Bateman seemingly at will, the Golden Gophers’ offense was obviously fantastic throughout the 2019 season.

The 2016 Western Michigan Broncos were also excellent under Ciarrocca’s watch. The team posted a perfect 13-0 record in the regular season before falling to Wisconsin in that year’s Cotton Bowl. The team’s passing and rushing attacks both averaged at least 228 yards per game, and each unit scored 33 and 36 touchdowns, respectively.

Passing Prowess

Penn State football’s passing attack was solid under Ricky Rahne’s leadership, but Kirk Ciarrocca has a chance to take the unit to new heights.

Minnesota’s 2019 passing attack obviously needs no introduction, as it almost single-handedly helped the Gophers vault themselves into the College Football Playoff equation well into November. Tanner Morgan threw for 2,975 yards, 28 touchdowns, and six interceptions. One area of concern is the lack of diversity in Minnesota’s 2019 passing game, as Tyler Johnson and Rashod Bateman accounted for more than 75% of the Gophers’ passing yardage and 22 of Morgan’s touchdown tosses.

Minnesota’s offense leaning on a pair of wideouts as good as Bateman and Johnson isn’t too surprising, but it’s not like Ciarrocca is incapable of running well-balanced passing attacks. Western Michigan’s 2016 offense featured four receivers with more than 25 receptions and 275 receiving yards — including eventual top-five NFL Draft pick Corey Davis’ 97 grabs for exactly 1,500 yards and 19 scores.

Penn State’s passing attack often leaned on KJ Hamler and Pat Freiermuth — sometimes to a fault. With that in mind, it’s entirely possible that the Nittany Lions’ offense gets players like Jahan Dotson, Daniel George, and Mac Hippenhammer more involved in next year’s offensive equation thanks to Ciarrocca.

Pennsylvania Roots

Sure, being from Pennsylvania isn’t the be-all, end-all measure of a great football coach, but the fact that Kirk Ciarrocca hails from Lewisberry, Pennsylvania is pretty sweet.

“I also believe strongly in hiring people that want to be here. Kirk really wanted to be here,” head coach James Franklin said on Thursday. “He’s from Pennsylvania. He grew up watching and supporting Penn State, and I think that’s important. He’s fired up about being here. His wife is fired up about coming back to Pennsylvania.”

Ciarrocca was, in fact, a Penn State fan growing up, and his Pennsylvania origins could prove invaluable on the recruiting trail in the coming years thanks to his familiarity with Happy Valley and its surrounding areas.

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Hiring people like LSU’s Joe Brady or Ohio State’s Mike Yurcich would’ve been equivalent to a walk-off grand slam in game seven of the World Series for James Franklin’s coaching staff. At the end of the day, neither option was all that realistic, but it’s not like Franklin settled for the random guy at Champs to run his offense.

If you want to use a baseball analogy, hiring Kirk Ciarrocca is like a line drive in the outfielders’ gap that results in a bases-clearing double or triple. It’s not a pipe dream, but at the same time, Penn State’s offensive coordinator search came to an excellent conclusion for all parties involved.