New Penn State OC Kirk Ciarrocca talks offensive philosophy

STATE COLLEGE — A nice chunk of new Penn State offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca’s introductory news conference Wednesday touched on what the Red Land High School graduate believes.

And the former Minnesota Golden Gophers coordinator also ruled out a few things.

You can expect to see Ciarrocca working from the press box Saturdays. He called himself “a booth guy,” much like former PSU offensive coordinator Ricky Rahne. No field duty for Kirk.

A couple of more Ciarrocca “no-nos” to educate the Penn State football fan base:

• Don’t expect the Penn State offense to huddle prior to a play.

• Don’t expect the quarterback to be under center.

• And, much like Rahne and Joe Moorhead before him, no fullbacks for the new Lions’ play-caller.

Ciarrocca stopped just short of ruling out these scenarios. But let’s just say all of the above is highly unlikely in the coach’s RPO offense.

So what can be expected?

“Off the field, I’m a pretty laid-back person, pretty easygoing,” the 54-year-old Ciarrocca said. “It takes a lot to rattle me.

“On the field, I love what I do. I just love it. I think that if you come and watch on the field, you’ll be surprised at my energy and the excitement that I have for my job. I love working with these kids. I love helping them reach their fullest potential. So I’m a teacher and a communicator … that’s how I look at myself on the field.”

With Ciarrocca calling the shots last season, Minnesota averaged 34.1 points and was ranked fourth in the Big Ten in total offense — two spots ahead of Penn State — with an average of 432 yards. Minnesota threw for 3,293 yards in 13 games.

“First of all, we had good players,” said Ciarrocca, asked about his offense that led the Gophers to a 31-26 upset of previously unbeaten Penn State in early November in Minneapolis.

“I’ve been doing this a long time, and I’ve been in the penthouse and the outhouse. The common denominator? Luckily, I’ve been in the penthouse a lot more than the outhouse. Every time I’ve been in the penthouse, I’ve had really good players around me.

“I think it’s a system that we’ve developed that fits, and you know, it has answers and we know what the answers are,” Ciarrocca said. “And we know how to move our pieces as the defensive people move their pieces, to put ourselves in the best possible situation for our guys to execute.

“The core philosophies of what I believe in, that makes you a successful offense, have been with me for a long time. The actual plays … have evolved with time and with the different players that I had the pleasure of working with.”

When pressed on more specifics regarding his beliefs, Ciarrocca obliged.

“We’ve gotta value the ball. We must take care of the football,” he said. “If you look at turnover margin, if you’re looking at statistics after a game, turnover margin is one of the statistics I’m going to look at.

“No. 2, I believe in execution. When you talk about execution, you’re talking about alignment, assignment and technique.”

Ciarrocca also stressed the need to create explosive plays, generally of 20 or more yards.

“The two statistics I’m most concerned about are, how did we do with the ball and then how did we do from an explosive-play standpoint? Those statistics are going to win and lose the game for you.”