Penn State football’s offensive coordinator will be working somewhere else during games this season.
Oh, he’ll still be at Penn State.
But Mike Yurcich will coach from the booth, not the field, not the field, to start 2023, according to Penn State’s website.
Penn State sets its coaching assignments for the season. Offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich will call games from the booth after being on the field last year. pic.twitter.com/HwRM9mRWHx
— Mark Wogenrich (@MarkWogenrich) August 29, 2023
Yurcich is entering his third season as Penn State’s offensive coordinator. In his first two, Sean Clifford was the starting QB. This year, Clifford is with the Packers, so Penn State will have to start somebody else. That somebody is almost certainly Drew Allar, although head coach James Franklin hasn’t made the announcement yet.
Allar committed to Penn State in March 2021. This was months before Yurcich coached his first game at the school. Between his commitment and signing day, which took place in December of that year, Allar developed into a five-star recruit and a QB more than a few Penn State fans feel will be the best in school history when his career’s done.
Before Allar signed and before Yurcich’s first season at Penn State, he talked about where he’d be coaching: on the field or up above?
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.“I’ll be on the field,” Yurcich said at Penn State’s media day in 2021.
Why?
“I think it’s important from a leadership standpoint to be able to rally the troops, so to speak,” Yurcich said. “To be able to look (Sean Clifford) in the eye and be able to have a good conversation with him, as well as clear communication with any adjustments we need on the field. To be able to talk to each personnel grouping. To be able to talk to Coach Franklin.
“I just think the communication is very critical. At the same time, you have to good eyes up in the box and be able to trust them, which we do.”
It’s not clear why this change has been made. Franklin will likely be asked about it this afternoon at his first Tuesday press conference of 2023.
