The Minnesota Gophers are thrilled to have Kirk Ciarrocca back as their offensive coordinator, but his path back to Minnesota comes with questions.
Ciarrocca left the Gophers to take the offensive coordinator position at Penn State following the 2019 season, but he spent just one year in Happy Valley before he was fired by head coach James Franklin.
So why’d he get canned?
“I would like to say this: I’m a huge fan of Kirk’s,” Franklin said this week. “Obviously the timing for college football in general, specifically for the Big Ten, was a challenge with our season being (postponed), with COVID. It was a very unique time for all of us.
“Some of the things that Kirk had to deal with were outside of his control. When you are hiring a new offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator or special-teams coordinator and you really don’t have — we had no spring ball,” Franklin continued. “He got none of that. I think that is the best way we could describe some of the challenges and issues that had nothing to do with Kirk.”
According to a 2021 article by Cory Giger of DK Pittsburgh Sports, Ciarrocca did have a massive challenge of installing his system without spring practices but also had to “blend” his system with the previous scheme that Franklin preferred.
Things got worse as the Penn State offense was depleted by injuries and ineffectiveness. Starting running back Journey Brown had to retire because of a medical condition and backup Noah Cain was injured in the season opener while Sean Clifford tossed nine interceptions in nine games after throwing seven during the entire 2019 season.
Despite all of this the Nittany Lions finished third in the Big Ten in points per game (29.8), second in yards per game (430.3), fourth in passing yards per game (256.0) and fifth in rushing yards per game (174.3).
Penn State went on to lose the first five games of the season but rallied to finish 4-5. Ciarrocca was fired at the end of the year and Franklin hired Mike Yurcich as his replacement.
After spending last season as an offensive analyst with the West Virginia Mountaineers, Ciarrocca returns to Minnesota to revive the Gophers’ offense.
The Gophers ranked seventh in points per game and ninth in total yards last season in the Big Ten, but the return of Mohammed Ibrahim, Chris Autman-Bell and quarterback Tanner Morgan, who set a school record with 30 touchdowns under Ciarrocca in 2019, should help Minnesota improve this fall.
“I can understand why P.J. (Fleck) brought him back,” Franklin said. “He obviously did a great job for them (from 2017-19). I’m going to be rooting for him and his family every game but one. I got nothing but great things to say about Kirk, and a lot of the things that played out were out of his control.”
Ciarrocca will have his chance at revenge when the Gophers travel to Penn State for their annual White Out game on Oct. 22.
