Sean Clifford, Penn State offense hopes to reap benefits of 2nd year under Mike Yurcich

STATE COLLEGE — Sean Clifford’s revolving door of offensive coordinators at Penn State has been well-documented. In his first three years as a starting quarterback, he had three different voices in his ear, from Ricky Rahne in 2019 to Kirk Ciarrocca in 2020 to Mike Yurcich in 2021.

This spring, though, Penn State finally has continuity at its offensive coordinator spot. Yurcich is back for his second season in the position after a first year that featured a promising start and a disappointing finish. The Nittany Lions believe that the benefits of spending a second year in the system will carry over to this fall.

“Just being able to be in the same terminology, be in the same offense, be able to operate at a high level, it’s just easier to make all the calls,” Clifford said. “Just kind of opening up the playbook for me. I’ve always had to re-learn an offense or learn a new one, and now being able to be in the same one back-to-back years just makes my job a lot easier and really be able to master the offense in the spring instead of learn it in the spring and go into the fall.”

There will be plenty of eyes on Clifford this spring and summer as the sixth-year senior is back for his fourth year as Penn State’s starting quarterback. Besides Clifford, who turns 24 in July, the room is young, with redshirt freshman Christian Veilleux and freshmen Drew Allar and Beau Pribula going through spring practice.

But the value of Yurcich’s Year 2 goes well beyond Clifford. Tight end Brenton Strange enrolled early in 2019 to play for Rahne. He didn’t have spring football to learn Ciarrocca’s system in 2020. And now, Strange finally gets back-to-back seasons with the same play-caller.

“It’s definitely been an advantage to me,” Strange said Tuesday. “I see things differently than I would have maybe last spring when we first installed the offense. It’s minor — not minor, but it’s details that you come across throughout the season, throughout spring ball that maybe you wouldn’t have in the first year, so it’s a level of being comfortable, also. I think everything adds up, and finally having a second spring under an offensive coordinator is a great feeling.”

There are plenty of areas of improvement for the Penn State offense after last season. The play of the offensive line and the running game remain two areas of interest, in addition to the quarterback position. The unit has to replace star wide receiver Jahan Dotson, who was the team’s most reliable playmaker a year ago.

Yurcich has said the group needs to be better. His charges feel that the needed improvement can come simply by some things staying the same.

“It’s definitely, it’s a good feeling when you can come back to the same playbook that you’re used to and you get right back into the same flow,” third-year wide receiver KeAndre Lambert-Smith said Tuesday. “So I mean, not learning a new offense … we’re not thinking a lot. For me, personally, I’m playing a lot faster because I’m just comfortable with the playbook. I know what I’m doing, I know my assignment. So I’m pretty sure we all feel like that and it’s just helping us click better as an offense.”

Lambert-Smith is a player on an upward trajectory with the chance to use the continuity to continue to raise his game. The Norfolk, Va., native caught 15 passes for 138 yards as a freshman under Ciarrocca in 2020. In 2021, he upped those numbers to 34 catches for 521 yards and three touchdowns as the No. 3 wide receiver behind Dotson and classmate Parker Washington. There will be plenty of opportunities in 2022.

But it’s easy to talk about these things in March and April, and even later in August during camp. The proof will be seen when the season kicks off at Purdue on Sept. 1.

“I feel like we can grow overall as a whole,” Lambert-Smith said. “I feel like we all know we didn’t [play] the way that we wanted to have last year as far as when it comes to run game, pass game, everywhere. So I mean, it’s room for improvement in every aspect of the offense as far as passing game, running game. Everybody has room for improvement, and I feel like we’re going to get it done.”