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Sean Clifford languished at times in Penn State's offense last season. New coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca hopes to change that.
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Penn State's new offensive coordinator on his system, routine and maintaining expectations

Jim Cowsert/Associated Press

Penn State's new offensive coordinator on his system, routine and maintaining expectations

Newly minted Penn State offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca is figuring out life out on the fly like nearly every other American trying to adapt while under quarantine.

Ciarrocca gleaned a tip from a sports science group at the university that many people might want to adopt in a work-from-home society.

“They were talking to the players, and it was about reminding them to stay on their routine,” Ciarrocca told reporters Tuesday. “It probably took me a week or so to get right on establishing a routine. I just realized that I started working at 7, so that’s what I decided to stick with.”

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Ciarrocca now sets up shop in his living room instead of making the drive to the Lasch Building and hunkering down in Holuba Hall. The coaching veteran, hired away from Minnesota in December, laid out a sample schedule.

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He spends three hours working on football, analyzing video and planning out play calls. When 10 a.m. rolls around, Ciarrocca devotes time to staff meetings and recruiting, which goes until 3 p.m.

Ciarrocca works from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. with the last two hours dedicated to evaluating potential new Nittany Lions and meetings with the quarterback group. His wife, Kim, noticed the extra effort that he’s putting in for his new team.

“My wife said to me the other day, ‘You seem to be working now more than ever this time of year.’ ” Ciarrocca said with a wry grin.

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Changes

Losing the ability to recruit normally is a challenge, but it’s one that every team in the country is dealing with now. Ciarrocca is finding that technology makes the process a bit easier.

“It’s great when the kids can come on campus. You get a feel for them from interacting in person. They get a feel for you,” Ciarrocca said. “We can’t bring them on campus to truly show what Penn State has to offer. But we do have FaceTime, and we can get on the phone.

“We’ll do what it takes to show them what life would be like if they decide to choose Penn State.”

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The Lewisberry, Pa., native spent the previous three seasons with Minnesota and helped lead the program to its first 10-win season since 1905.

Penn State coach James Franklin has entrusted Ciarrocca to improve an offense that averaged nearly 191 rushing yards per game. But the passing game languished, with quarterback Sean Clifford completing less than 56% of his passes.

The Nittany Lions will execute a run-pass option offense that isn’t too dissimilar from what the team utilized under the previous coordinator Ricky Rahne. Franklin told reporters two weeks ago that the time group spent together before COVID-19 changed the world will make the adjustment easier when there is football.

“Getting with coach Ciarrocca and sitting in a room for a month and then taking the best things they did at Minnesota and the best things we did at Penn State and merging them was great,” Franklin said. “There’s a lot of work to be done. “We’ve been able to do a lot of this stuff remotely, but obviously, face-to-face time is important.

“It’s one thing to be able to know the playbook, and it’s one thing to have discussions. But you learn so much by going against your defense every single day in practice and vice-versa.”

Ciarrocca is taking a team-first approach to the transition.

“We’ve all been working together and communicating together,” Ciarrocca said. “It’s not my system; it’s our system. We’re all contributing to this.”

Advantage of experience

Building culture isn’t natural when everything is normal. Losing spring practices and all the in-person work could make it nearly impossible, but Ciarrocca isn’t buying into the difficulty.

“We’re not going to be able to install something and go out and walk through it,” Ciarrocca said. “We’ll have to study it a bit harder than maybe we would in the past. The credit goes to the players and how well they’ve worked with it so far.”

Last week, tight ends coach Tyler Bowen discussed how Ciarrocca’s ability to break down the offense by each position would give Penn State an advantage next season.

“You listen to him talk. He can go up and be a guy that coaches an offensive lineman on his first two steps and then go talk about the receiver split and what release he should take against inside leverage press coverage,” Bowen said. “He’s got that wealth of knowledge with his experience. That’s helped him really acclimate to our players well because he’s hands-on and coaching them throughout putting in this system.”

A bit of adversity inadvertently propelled Ciarrocca along in learning all phases of the offense. It came in his second coaching job as an offensive coordinator at Division III Western Connecticut in 1992.

“Our offensive line coach quit in July,” Ciarrocca said. “I had no choice but to coach the line that year. We had another guy on that staff that could coach the QBs. I became engrossed with line play. It was eye-opening for me.”

Ciarrocca only coached the offensive line for that one season out of his nearly 30 as a coach. But he say it made him a better coach.

Perhaps he and the Nittany Lions can handle this unprecedented situation similarly. If nothing else, Ciarrocca won’t allow the ever-changing world to impact his expectations for the team when football returns.

“I’m looking for the same product I’ve always looked for once we get out there on the field,” Ciarrocca said. “That’s the way I’m approaching it. I’m not planning on lowering my standards.”

Nubyjas Wilborn: nwilborn@post-gazette.com Twitter: @nwilborn19

First Published: April 7, 2020, 6:10 p.m.
Updated: April 7, 2020, 6:10 p.m.

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Sean Clifford languished at times in Penn State's offense last season. New coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca hopes to change that.  (Jim Cowsert/Associated Press)
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