Penn State fires offensive line coach Matt Limegrover

The look of Penn State’s coaching staff continued to change Tuesday when coach James Franklin announced he will not renew the contract of offensive line coach Matt Limegrover.

The move followed the departure of offensive coordinator Ricky Rahne, recently named the new head coach at Old Dominion. Franklin replaced Rahne with Kirk Ciarrocca, who was offensive coordinator at Minnesota.

Ciarrocca is the second former Minnesota offensive coordinator hired by Penn State in the past four years. Limegrover held that job there before Franklin hired him in 2016.

Limegrover coached Penn State’s offensive line for the past four seasons, helping the run game to its best rushing average in 10 years in 2018 (204.9 yards per game). It was 29th in the nation, fifth in the Big Ten.

This season, Penn State’s ground game fell slightly to 36th (190.6 and fourth in the Big Ten). Penn State also finished 97th in sacks allowed per game (2.46 and 10th in the Big Ten).

Limegrover, a native of Pittsburgh and a Central Catholic graduate, has had a long coaching career in college football, working at his alma mater, the University of Chicago, Northwestern, Ferris (Mich.) State, Emporia (Kansas) State, Southern Illinois, Northern Illinois and Minnesota since 1991. He was offensive coordinator at his previous three stops — Southern Illinois, Northern Illinois and Minnesota — before coming to Penn State.

“We appreciate all of Matt’s contributions to our program for the last four seasons.” Franklin said in a statement. “We wish Matt and his family all the best in the future.”

Franklin said he will immediately begin a national search for a replacement.