It’s Not Yurcich SZN for 247 Sports

 

by Joey Lovell
22 hours ago (July 5, 2023)

 

Don’t feel bad Kaytron Allen, you’re not the only one at Penn State getting snubbed. In a recent article discussing the top 15 quarterback developers in college, Penn State’s offensive coordinator/QB coach Mike Yurcich was completely disrespected when he didn’t even make the list. The level of bias towards Penn State knows no boundaries.

 

Who coached Jalen Hurts?

No fewer than three coaches in this list were credited with the development of the current Philadelphia Eagles signal caller. The article mentioned both Lane Kiffin and Steve Sarkisian as helping with Hurt’s development in his time at Alabama, and then when Hurt’s transferred to Oklahoma, he flourished under Lincoln Riley.

 

Jalen is an incredible talent and I have no do whatsoever that he learned from each one of those men. But using him as an example for three different coaches seems a little excessive.

 

The System Makes the QB 

Chip Kelly makes the list, largely in part because of his incredibly successful system that took athletic quarterbacks and had them producing video game numbers during his six seasons at Oregon. He was credited with developing Dennis Dixon, Jeremiah Masoli, Darron Thomas, and of course Heisman Trophy-winning Marcus Mariota. Both Dixon and Mariota made the NFL, but Dixon threw 58 passes in three seasons (although he did get a Super Bowl ring with the Steelers) and Mariota is still in the league but has definitely failed to live up to his hype. Masoli is still playing in the CFL and Thomas bounced around a little up there and the Arena league.

 

Kelly attempted the NFL challenge on his own, and after two moderately triumphant seasons during which he gradually dismantled the team that Andy Reid had constructed over 14 years, he was dismissed following a disappointing 6-9 performance in his third season, not even getting the chance to finish the season. San Francisco took a chance on him but quickly came to rue that decision when he managed a dismal 2-14 record. This serves as a reminder that college offensive systems don’t always transition effectively to the NFL.

 

Bobby Who??

O.K., I admit, I know exactly who Bobby Petrino is, although I confess I didn’t know he coached at Arizona State when Jake “The Snake” Plummer was there. Yes, he did coach Lamar Jackson when he won the Heisman, and he even coached the late Ryan Mallet while he was at Arkansas, which oddly wasn’t acknowledged in the article. But does that qualify him to be listed in the 11th position? I don’t believe so.

 

The biggest grievance of them all

O.K., I’ll be the first to admit, my feelings toward Ohio State are similar to my hatred of liver and snakes. However, just as Wes Mantooth was telling Ron Burgundy when saving him from the pit of bears “I pure straight, straight hate you…but G*^####&t I respect you”, so goes my feelings towards the Buckeyes. I happen to think that Ryan Day is a good offensive mind that has overseen some good collegiate play. For example, in 2019, OSU’s QB Justin Fields also put up video game numbers. The funny thing is, guess who was the quarterback coach and passing game coordinator for that season? None other than Mike Yurcich. So, who do you think had a bigger hand in the success of that year?

 

Yurcich’s own resume

Besides the aforementioned job with Fields, he was the OC/QB for the Oklahoma State Cowboys from 2013-2018. During his time there, the Cowboys’ averaged scoring 38.0 points per game. Mason Rudolph, a 3-year starter, left the program as the undisputed passing leader in every statistical category, by wide margins. For his career, he threw for 13,618 yards with 92 TDs against 26 INTs.

 

After his one incredibly successful season in Columbus, Yurcich went down to Austin during the Covid season to be Texas’s OC/QB coach. Sam Ehlinger put up very solid numbers in a 10-game schedule, finishing the year with a 150.7 QB rating.

 

Perhaps the most validating example of Yurcich’s genius is what he accomplished while at Penn State. When Sean Clifford came to Happy Valley, he was a four-star recruit that much was hoped for. There were some glimpses of that talent, but for the most part, he was average his first two years as a starting quarterback for the Nittany Lions. In Yurcich’s first season as his play caller, Clifford experienced his best year-to-date, throwing for over 3,100 yards. During his senior season, while not as prolific in the yardage category (2,822 yards) every other metric increased, most drastically. His completion percentage jumped over 3 percentage points. He reduced his INTs, albeit only by one, while increasing his TD passes. His QB rating of 150.5 was the highest of his four years as a starter.

 

The knock against him was he could never win the big game. Yet, he was 2-2 against Michigan in his four seasons as the signal caller. Sadly, while he never did beat Ohio State, in his final two games against the Buckeyes he was 67-99 (67.7%) with four TDs and four INTs. Of course, those were the first two years of Yurchich’s calling plays.

 

Perhaps the most maligned quarterback ever at Penn State, he DID win the Cotton Bowl and the Rose Bowl, not to mention Rose Bowl MVP. While it remains to be seen what his pro career amounts to, the quarterback whose haters “guaranteed” wouldn’t play past college, not only got drafted but went in the fifth round.

 

Conclusion

So, while this list is a good start, without including Mike Yurcich, it is widely incomplete. From working with players that other coaches were credited with, to overseeing the development of two programs’ all-time leading passers, Yurchich’s body of work speaks for itself.

 

Nevertheless, I sense that in the upcoming years, his name will invariably come up whenever analysts discuss Drew Allar’s potential destination in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft.

 

Mike Yurcich will bring Penn State football’s offense back to superstardom | Opinion

 

Seth Engle | The Daily Collegian

Aug 27, 2021

If you were to ask any diehard Penn State football fan who the program’s last great offensive coordinator was, the answer would likely be Joe Moorhead.

In just two seasons with the blue and white’s program, Moorhead was able to accomplish feats no other Penn State coordinator had come close to in recent memory, leading the Nittany Lions to a Big Ten Championship win, two New Year's Six bowl games and two top-10 finishes.

After such high accomplishments, Moorhead’s time as a coordinator was short-lived, and he became the head coach of Mississippi State in 2018.

Penn State’s offense hasn’t been the same since.

After two seasons under Ricky Rahne, the Nittany Lions decided to bring in former Minnesota offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca to lead the offense in 2020.

With Ciarrocca pulling the strings, the Golden Gophers lit up Penn State’s defense in 2019 in their 31-26 defeat over the undefeated Nittany Lions.

Many expected Ciarrocca would do to opponents what he did to the blue and white in 2019. However, that wasn’t the case.

Penn State went 4-5 in 2020, suffering its first losing season in nearly two decades.

In January, Ciarrocca was fired, and the Nittany Lions brought in their third offensive coordinator in three years in Mike Yurcich.

A “football guy” in nature, Yurcich has bounced around the country in different coaching roles for the past 22 years — 15 of which have been spent as an offensive coordinator.

Yurcich began to make headlines as the offensive coordinator of Oklahoma State. The Cowboy offense ranked fifth nationally in passing yards per game, seventh in total offense and sixth in scoring in his six years with the program.

Following his stint in Stillwater, Oklahoma, Yurcich made his way to Ohio State to serve as the passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach — developing a quarterback named Justin Fields.

In his lone season with the Buckeyes, Yurcich led them to a 13-1 record and a spot in the College Football Playoff, while Fields finished as a Heisman finalist.

However, Yurcich’s gig in Columbus was eventful but brief.

Yurcich moved on once again to become the offensive coordinator at Texas — where he led the Longhorns to a No. 8 rank in scoring offense (42.7 ppg) in 2020, good for second-best in program history.

The following January, Yurcich found his next destination: Happy Valley.

When looking at stats alone, there’s plenty to be excited about for Yurcich’s start with Penn State.

Since 2013, Yurcich ranks first among Power Five offensive coordinators with 6.49 yards per play and 14.03 yards per completion.

In the same timeframe, Yurich’s teams have scored 40 or more points in 50% of the games he’s led as offensive coordinator.

Stats don’t lie, and that’s something James Franklin has made clear over the years.

When looking at Penn State’s offensive statistics from last season, a few things stand out.

The Nittany Lions maintained a higher average yards and passing yards per game in 2020 than in 2019.

However, points per game dropped by a full touchdown, from 35.8 in 2019 to 29.8 in 2020. The yardage may have been higher, but the blue and white played from behind in many games and racked up garbage-time stats.

In 2021, the scoring will rise.

Despite a disappointing season from Sean Clifford, Penn State still managed to finish second in passing yards per game, displaying that there’s talent in the passing game entering the 2021 season.

If Yurcich has done anything in his 22-year career, it’s score — and that’s what Penn State needs most.

Clifford may have regressed this past season, but if there’s one man to get him back to his 2019 ways — when the Cincinnati native led Penn State to an 11-2 record — it’s Yurcich.

In Yurcich’s offense, Clifford will be more likely to throw the ball rather than settle for a quarterback sneak up the middle, as Penn State did constantly under Ciarrocca.

Yurcich’s faster-paced style of play will bring excitement to Nittany Lion fans, as his quick snaps will be used to fool defenses in order to create more explosive plays.

With a receiving core led by two-headed monster Jahan Dotson and Parker Washington, along with a running back room backed by five guys who are good enough to start on FBS rosters, Clifford holds the keys to Penn State getting back to stardom next season.

In 2016, Moorhead unveiled a playbook more creative than any Penn State fans had seen in years. Expect the same to unfold with Yurcich in 2021, as he leads the Nittany Lions to one of their best offensive seasons in recent memory.

 

Sean Clifford 'Feels Like a New Player' Under Mike Yurcich

 

Penn State's offensive coordinator has reshaped Clifford in his short time with the Nittany Lions.

 

MARK WOGENRICH

AUG 11, 2021

 

At 23, Penn State quarterback Sean Clifford is a team elder, a status he absorbs in many ways.

As a fifth-year senior, Clifford is playing in his fourth offense for his fourth coordinator. Like most elders, Clifford says he doesn't understand TikTok. And like any good veteran quarterback, Clifford made finding a sponsor for his weekly dinner with the offensive line among his first missions regarding name, image and likeness opportunities.

(Clifford recently struck a deal with The Field, a popular State College restaurant that named a sandwich after Penn State coach James Franklin.)

"If I wanted to take my offensive line out last year, I would have had to buy them food out of my stipend money," Clifford said. "Which, to be honest with you, hurt. A lot."

But even with all that accumulated wisdom and experience, Clifford simultaneously is feeling invigorated. He has channeled something new in his short time with offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich, something that has him encouraged about the 2021 season.

At 23, in year five of college, Clifford said he might even feel reborn.

"I definitely feel like I’m playing at a pretty high level, and [Yurcich] has brought a lot of good out of me, things that I never thought I could do," Clifford said. "... This is just the beginning. I'm trying to break my ceiling and go even higher each and every day."

Clifford has laid to rest his uneven 2020 season, one in which he regressed under a stressed offensive installation, a losing streak and a tendency to freight all of it entirely on his shoulders.

Still, that season trails him. Pro Football Focus placed Clifford at No. 88 in its college quarterback rankings, squarely in the "needs improvement" category. Asked this week to describe what he learned from 2020, Clifford said, "I will not be talking about last season anymore."

"Obviously, as an entire organization, we had some challenges last year," Franklin said. "That was an opportunity for all of us to grow and evolve. And I know Sean has as well, and I'm looking forward to watching him play this year."

Clifford spent this offseason studying Yurcich's offenses at Oklahoma State, Ohio State and Texas. He made calls to fellow quarterbacks, including the Pittsburgh Steelers' Mason Rudolph, who threw for 13,618 yards and 92 touchdowns in four seasons under Yurcich at Oklahome State. Clifford also caught some time with several Mannings at the Manning Passing Academy.

Clifford views all that as prelude and prep to a breakthrough season. And Yurcich has plenty to do with that.

"I’ve learned from four coaches how to play football in different ways," Clifford said. "I appreciate all the coaches who have come through Penn State. I've learned a lot from them. I've taken the good and the bad and learned from it.

"And I feel like coach Yurcich is definitely bringing out a new player. He's definitely pushing me to a new level and he's making me a better version of Sean Clifford, who I feel the team's happy to see, and I'm happy to see myself."

In Clifford, Yurcich sees a fresh piece of clay to remold into a successful Big Ten quarterback. Yurcich's most significant criticism of his quarterbacks centers on consistency, meaning he's not seeing it.

Clifford has the intangible qualities — experience, study habits, leadership — and now has to rebuild the technical skills around them. And he has to do that consistently.

"I think he can get a lot better," Yurcich said. "So that’s my job: to help him along, to guide him and to give him the information that he needs and to continue to press upon the things that he has to improve upon and apply pressure where it needs to be in practice. Give him difficult looks, allow him to fail and figure it out, and then continue to build his confidence up. I think that’s the process of learning."

A supremely confident quarterback, Clifford breaks down his assets like this: "I have a lot of wisdom. I've played a lot of snaps here, so I've seen a lot of looks. And I've just played a lot of football, seen a lot of tape, and done a lot of research. So I feel like I have a pretty good grasp of everything."

Yurcich is tasked with piecing all those elements together to assemble a successful Big Ten quarterback.

"Sean’s all about helping this team win," Yurcich said. "He’s willing to do whatever it takes, so therefore, you've just got to try to help him. You have to guide him and help him get where he wants to be. And he wants to be great, so whatever that takes."

The 15 most important assistant coaching hires of 2021 -- No. 7: Mike Yurcich, Penn State

 

https://twitter.com/zach_barnett/status/1425847710645735431

No offensive coordinator has been more consistently productive over the past eight seasons than Mike Yurcich. Now he's returned to his adoptive home state to lead a revival in Happy Valley.

 

ZACH BARNETT

2 HOURS AGO (August 12, 2021)

 

Back by overwhelming demand, FootballScoop will once again examine the assistant coaching hires that will have the biggest impact on the college football season and the coaching job market in the 2021 season and beyond.

Who: Mike Yurcich

Title: Offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach 

Previous stop: Texas offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach (2020)

Why he's important: Do you think Yurcich ever allowed himself to dream? An Ohio native who finished his career at California U. of Pennsylvania, Mike Yurcich found himself coordinating Division II Shippensburg's offense, making $52,000 a year. To now be calling plays at Beaver Stadium, 95 miles north of Ship U, making seven figures a year... do you think he allowed his mind to go there?

"Having spent 11 years in the state of Pennsylvania as a player and coach, I understand the significance of this duty and will represent properly and with humble pride," Yurcich said upon his hiring.

How much does James Franklin like Mike Yurcich? Shortly after the latter was hired in January, an industry source told FootballScoop that Franklin and the Penn State staff still like Kirk Ciarocca, the man Franklin plucked away from Minnesota, then dismissed after just one season. In a world where Texas scores a few more points against TCU, Oklahoma and/or Iowa State and Tom Herman is retained, Ciarocca is still Penn State's coordinator in 2021. But they didn't, and so Franklin moved on a coordinator he's long admired. 

Ruthless as the move was, it was also smart. 

As a quarterbacks whisperer, he developed Mason Rudolph into a third-round pick at Oklahoma State. Justin Fields threw 41 touchdowns against just three interceptions in his one season at Ohio State. At Texas he inherited a fourth-year starter and a head coach who varied the imprint of his fingerprints on the offense depending on the day -- not exactly ideal conditions for a new coordinator -- the Longhorns' scoring grew by a full touchdown per game and Sam Ehlinger posted the best touchdown-to-interception ratio of his career. In fact, over the past two seasons, Yurcich's quarterbacks have thrown eight picks against 80 touchdowns. 

And as a coordinator, Yurcich is arguably the most accomplished in FBS since he landed the Oklahoma State job in 2013.

Yurcich's offenses have averaged 6.49 yards a play and 14 per completion, the most in FBS over the past eight seasons according to Penn State. His offenses hit 40 points as often as they don't. 

The change, Franklin said, will be minimal for everyone who wore blue and white last season -- except the end result. The terminology will remain the same, and the goal will be "to get back to our identity and who we've been." 

"Back to spreading the field, making people defend 53 1/3, creating explosive plays, trying to put as many defenders in conflict as possible," Franklin said last week. "That's who we've wanted to be the entire time we've been here. Getting as many guys involved, as many guys in space as possible." 

Arguably no team was bitten by covid opt-outs harder than Penn State, and so arguably no team is better positioned for a bounce back than these Nittany Lions. Opening with a 1-point overtime loss to Indiana and Ohio State, before they knew it the calendar read November and they were 0-2. 0-2 became 0-5 before they rebounded with four straight wins. 

But quarterback Sean Clifford -- seven touchdowns and no picks in those four wins -- returns, and 4-star running back Noah Cain is back after opting out last season. John Lovett transferred in after starting all five games he played at Baylor last season. Twelve different players caught passes last season, and 10 of them are back, as are three offensive line starters.

"And I feel like Coach Yurcich is definitely bringing out a new player," Clifford said recently of his new offensive coordinator, the fourth of his career. "He's definitely pushing me to a new level and he's making me a better version of Sean Clifford, who I feel the team's happy to see, and I'm happy to see myself."

Ohio State is the runaway pick to win the Big Ten -- to be honest, they're my pick too -- but much of the perceived gap between the Buckeyes and the rest of the conference was created thanks to titles in 2017 and '18. Ohio State's margin of victory over Penn State in those seasons: one point. 

The gap between those programs in those years was thisclose. What a better way to close that gap by getting back to the formula that won you the 2016 Big Ten title, and who better to do it with than the long-time Pennyslvanian who's put up more yards and points over these past eight years than anyone else in FBS?

Penn State quarterback Sean Clifford says he's inspired by new coordinator Mike Yurcich

 

By Rich Scarcella

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."

The Associated Press

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.”

Mike Yurcich’s energy leads to early positive reviews for revamped Penn State offense

 

Daniel Gallen, pennlive.com

Mar 23, 2021

STATE COLLEGE — Jake Pinegar typically isn’t intimately involved with either side of the ball during Penn State practices in his role as kicker, but the junior has certainly taken note of new Lions offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich as he installs his system during spring practice.

It’s the second year in a row the Lions are learning a new offense with their third offensive coordinator in three years. A benefit for Penn State in Year 1 under Yurcich, though, is the in-person practices that were absent a year ago for Kirk Ciarrocca’s lone season in State College as James Franklin’s offensive coordinator.

And that’s where Yurcich has made an early impression on his players, whether they’re technically part of his unit or not.

“He brings a lot of fire, a lot of energy, a lot of energy, a lot of fire, and from what I can see, the offense looks great,” Pinegar said over Zoom on Monday. “I’ve talked to [quarterback] Sean [Clifford] and all these other guys about the offense, and they’ve said they love it, and they’re ready to get after it. I think the biggest thing, too, is everybody has just been working incredibly hard this offense.

“I think there’s a lot of juice, a lot of competitiveness and a lot of drive that the offense is looking for.”

Guard/center Mike Miranda echoed Pinegar when it comes to Yurcich’s energy. Miranda said Yurcich showcased it during winter workouts over the past few months, and it’s carried over into the first week of on-field practices.

And Yurcich showcases it in different ways. He doesn’t just raise his voice or run around the field with his different position groups. It’s a little bit of everything.

“He’s a really verbal guy,” Miranda said over Zoom on Monday. “He does run around at practice a lot, but whenever we’re at team periods, we’re doing walkthroughs, you always know where he is on the field. You can always hear his voice, you always know what he’s saying, whether it’s to the offense or whether it’s to the quarterbacks or another position group. His presence is just felt as a coordinator while we’re on the field practicing, working.”

Of course, Yurcich’s personality is moot if the Penn State offense doesn’t see results. That’s why Franklin, rather surprisingly, moved on from Ciarrocca in favor of Yurcich.

Last season, Yurcich was at Texas and helped coach quarterback Sam Ehlinger to a 26-touchdown, five-interception season where Ehlinger averaged 8.0 yards per attempt and posted two five-touchdown games, plus another four-score outing.

In 2019, Yurcich was the passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach for Ohio State. That year, quarterback Justin Fields, projected to be a top pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, threw 41 touchdowns to just three interceptions. And prior to that, Yurcich spent six years under Mike Gundy at Oklahoma State in the pass-happy Big 12.

Everywhere Yurcich has been, big numbers have followed, which could bode well for Clifford, a stable of interesting running backs and a group of young playmakers at wide receivers. And those numbers typically come quickly, which has stood out to the players early.

“The thing I like most about the offense is it’s uptempo,” tight end Brenton Strange said Monday over Zoom. “I don’t think a lot of defenses just want to run the whole entire game, and that’s what we do. We’re uptempo, fast, get the defense on its heels and create explosive plays. That’s what I like the most about it.”

Miranda thinks when the season comes around, Penn State can be in better shape than its opponents and wear them down during the final stages of a game.

But a key part of that stems from the opportunity right now to prepare for the season. A year ago at this time, the Lions were learning an offense over Zoom while attempting to adjust to a world upended by the coronavirus pandemic. Now, though, Zoom sessions are “just kind of a normal thing,” Pinegar said, and the Lions are getting on-field instruction in March as opposed to later in the summer.

Plus, the loss of meeting time a year ago made players more appreciative for their chance to get together in the same room and go over the new offense this spring.

“Every meeting is an opportunity for us to learn because we can see how much different it can be, how much better it can make us,” Miranda said.

Yurcich’s addition to the Penn State staff created some buzz and optimism around a unit that struggled with injuries and inconsistency during a 4-5 season in 2020. The Lions are trying to put that performance behind them, but there are still some questions that need to be answered, mainly surrounding Clifford, an offensive line looking to replace two starters and a running back room that is deep but has dealt with injuries.

But there’s still plenty of time between now and when Penn State is scheduled to kick off the season at Wisconsin on Sept. 4 for those questions to get answered. From his view, though, Pinegar has been impressed with the initial returns with Yurcich as the offensive coordinator, which could make for some busier Saturday afternoons for the kicker.

“They’re working really hard,” Pinegar said. “As a spectator, obviously, it’s not my area of expertise, but from what I see, it looks like they’re headed in a really good direction.”