A Penn State assistant who lost his job still made more money than almost any other University employee during the 2023-24 fiscal year.
New “right-to-know” documents show who the school’s highest paid workers were from July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024.
Mike Yurcich, who was fired in November 2023, ranks No. 6, raking in $1,274,881.
The only athletic department employees who made more than Yurcich were athletic director Pat Kraft, head basketball coach Mike Rhoades and, of course, head football coach James Franklin.
Believe it or not, Yurcich made more than wrestling coach Cael Sanderson, who made $1,017,30o.
Sanderson has coached his team to 12 national titles in the last 14 years.
Yurcich is now the offensive coordinator at Youngstown State.
WHY FRANKLIN FIRED YURCICH
Photo by Matt Lynch, Nittany Sports Now: James Franklin
So why did Franklin fire Yurcich, in the middle of the 2023 season no less?
It came down to Penn State’s offense not performing in the team’s biggest games.
Penn State ended the 2023 regular season 10-2.
In losses at Ohio State and to Michigan at home, the team combined to score 27 points.
That wasn’t good enough. So, although there were bright spots from Yurcich’s near three-year tenure— winning the Rose Bowl, a national-best 13 straight games scoring 30 or more points— ultimately, most Penn State fans weren’t sad to see Yurcich go.
THE NEXT CHAPTER
Penn State Nittany Lions Mike Yurcich November 12, 2022 David Hague/NSN
Yurcich signed on to be Youngstown State’s offensive coordinator in January but will be come back to the Power Four?
Yurcich is still relatively young at 49 and has been a coordinator at Oklahoma State, Ohio State, PSU and Texas. Odds are, he’ll end up in the Power 4 again. But we shall see.
