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18 hrs ago
(March 29, 2021)
Penn State senior quarterback Sean Clifford on new offensive
coordinator Mike Yurcich: "He’s not a thermometer; he’s a thermostat. He
walks in and changes the temperature of the room."
New Penn State offensive
coordinator Mike Yurcich is fiery, energetic and passionate, according to
quarterback Sean Clifford, just like Clifford.
“We’ll butt heads because we’re so similar,” Clifford said Monday.
“You see it in the meetings. You can ask any of the other quarterbacks. I’ll be
talking because I want to express my point and then he’ll want to talk, too.
“It’s a really good relationship so far.”
Yurcich is Clifford’s fourth offensive coordinator and
quarterbacks coach in his five seasons, three as the starter, with the Nittany
Lions. Clifford has adjusted to each change, from Joe Moorhead to Ricky Rahne
to Kirk Ciarrocca.
Clifford’s now a senior, though, and motivated to improve on his
performance last season when Penn State finished 4-5. He completed 60.6% of his
passes for 1,883 yards and 16 touchdowns, but he threw nine interceptions and
lost two fumbles, which were returned for scores.
“I had a lot of love for Coach Ciarrocca,” he said, “and now that
he’s gone, I’m developing a new relationship with Coach Yurcich. I’m not sad
about it. I’m not mad about it. It’s just the way it goes.
“I’m enjoying every minute
being coached by him. He’s a great coach. He’s very inspiring and he makes me
want to come to work every day.”
Clifford said he believes that learning Yurcich’s offense will be
easier than learning Ciarrocca’s offense because the Lions didn’t have spring
practice last season and later had to work out in separate pods because of the
pandemic.
He called 2020 a “weird year in general” and said he never threw
with wide receiver Parker Washington, a true freshman last year, until two
weeks before the Oct. 24 opener at Indiana.
“Spring ball is where you really develop your team,” Clifford
said. “You work through the kinks. You’re going to mess up. It’s nice to be
able to mess up in a practice and break down the film (and correct mistakes).
“Last year, that was after the Indiana game and after the Ohio
State game. We were going over those new things that came up and it hurt us, as
it did a lot of teams. Spring ball is critical."
He was benched in the middle of a 30-23 loss at Nebraska in favor
of backup Will Levis, who since has transferred to Kentucky, and didn’t start
the following week against Iowa. He had 11 TD passes and eight interceptions in
the first five games, all losses, and five touchdown passes and one
interception in the last four games, all wins.
“It was definitely a challenge to be benched on national
television and for everybody to see it,” Clifford said. “It takes a lot out of
you because you’re that guy. You want to lead your team. You want to be there
for everybody.
“The one week that you don’t have that opportunity, it kind of
hurts. I would be lying if I said it didn’t. But at the same time, I knew that
I had to be there for my teammates and for Will, especially. I honestly looked
at it as an opportunity to grow and learn.”
Penn State coach James Franklin fired Ciarrocca after one season
and hired Yurcich hoping to improve the offense in general and Clifford in
particular. Yurcich has
enjoyed success at coaching stops that include Shippensburg, Oklahoma State,
Ohio State and Texas.
Clifford declined to get into the specifics of Yurcich’s offense
because the Lions aren’t halfway through spring practice.
“Everything is happening so
fast and you’re trying to get every install in,” he said. “It’s been exciting.
It’s a combination of explosiveness and grinding it out. It’s everything you
want.”
Clifford said he liked playing for Moorhead, Rahne and Ciarrocca.
So far, Yurcich is everything he wants in a coach.
“He makes you just want to
be there,” Clifford said. “It’s really every single day, the way he talks and
the way he commands a room. He’s not a thermometer; he’s a thermostat. He walks
in and changes the temperature of the room.
“When we’re going over a concept, we need to know every little
detail of it. I think that’s what every great OC needs to do.”
