Penn State coach James Franklin fired offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich on Sunday, one day after the Nittany Lions’ 24-15 loss to unbeaten Michigan, the university announced in a press release.
Jon Sauber of the Centre Daily Times was the first to report the news about Franklin’s first staff change during the regular season at Penn State.
“We thank Mike for his contributions over the last three years but feel it is in our program’s best interest to make a change at this time,” Franklin said in a statement. “We wish him and his family nothing but the best in the future.”
Ja’Juan Seider, assistant head coach, co-offensive coordinator and running backs coach, will share play-calling duties with tight ends coach Ty Howle for the rest of the season, the press release said.
After throwing for 74 yards Saturday, the fewest during Franklin’s tenure, Penn State fell to 88th in the country in passing yards per game (206.1), 72nd in total yards, 60th in pass efficiency and 45th in rushing (172.3.).
Franklin fired Kirk Ciarrocca after the 2020 season and hired Yurcich, someone who he admittedly had eyed as a potential offensive coordinator for several years.
Yurcich, an Ohio native who played quarterback at California University of Pennsylvania, built an impressive resume in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference at Edinboro and Shippensburg and then at Oklahoma State.
He spent one year as quarterbacks coach at Ohio State in 2019 and one year at Texas in 2020.
Yurcich recruited sophomore quarterback Drew Allar, a former five-star prospect, who struggled against Michigan and Ohio State. Allar completed 10-of-22 passes for 70 yards, his career low, against the Wolverines.
Penn State finished with just 238 total yards, the 10th-fewest during Franklin’s tenure.
“We’ve got to do a better job of calling a game to allow our quarterback to get into rhythm,” Franklin said Saturday. “That is critical. We’ve got to find easy completions for a quarterback to get into rhythm. That’s what everybody does.”
That was not exactly a ringing endorsement of Yurcich, Franklin’s fifth offensive coordinator since he arrived at Penn State in 2014.
John Donovan, the first one, worked two years, followed by Joe Moorhead (2016-17), Ricky Rahne (2018-19), Kirk Ciarrocca (2020) and Yurcich, who was in his third season.
Possible candidates to replace Yurcich include Moorhead, who’s in his second season as head coach at Akron, and former Kent State head coach Sean Lewis, who’s on Colorado’s staff. Lewis recently had his play-calling duties taken from him by head coach Deion Sanders.
Yurcich received criticism for calling 50 passing plays and just 18 running plays in a 20-12 loss at Ohio State last month. Penn State had averaged more than 44 running plays before that game.
“I felt like we could have run the ball a little more,” Franklin said immediately after the loss to the Buckeyes.
The Lions gained just 240 total yards that afternoon and didn’t score a touchdown until the final minute. Franklin later admitted “it was not a good game” for the offense in general and the play-calling in particular.
“We talked about staying true to our identity,” Franklin said. “I thought we got a little bit away from that at times. I didn’t feel like we were as consistent and as aggressive in certain areas that maybe we had been in the past.”
Source: Berkshire mont