Yurcich plans to combine tempo with power at Penn State
New offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich held a Q&A with the Nittany Lion football beat Tuesday, and it didn’t take him long to establish that the product he supervises will represent more than himself.
Asked to describe “a Mike Yurcich offense,” Yurcich cordially but sternly clarified, “It’s not going to be a Mike Yurcich offense. It’s going to be a Penn State offense.”
Yurcich (pronounced Yer-sitch) said his philosophy is not complicated.
“The game hasn’t changed in 120 years,” he said. “It’s still won up front.”
Penn State has employed a shotgun offense for the vast majority of James Franklin’s career. That could change some under Yurcich, who sees the advantage of going under center.
“I love power football,” he said. “It’s how I was raised. There’s a time to go under center. It provides a lot of advantages when the quarterback has his back to the defense and with play-action passes.”
Teams have gotten away from fullbacks as spread formations have become more popular and programs have emphasized the tight end because “those guys are longer athletes who can also flex out and give you versatility,” Yurcich said, adding, “Muscling up formations doesn’t necessarily need to be a done with a fullback.”
Yurcich sounded like the Lions will be much less reliant on their quarterbacks carrying the football. Sean Clifford and Will Levis combined to tote 181 times in nine games last season and were two of the team’s top three ballcarriers.
Yurcich, who replaced Kirk Ciarrocca (fired after one season), said running quarterbacks can help success in the red zone (which Penn State didn’t have last year), but he tempered his commitment to overuse of it.
“It all depends on your quarterbacks and your quarterback depth as well,” he said. “How many hits do you want them to take?”
With Will Levis’ transfer, the Lions are down to three scholarship quarterbacks — Clifford, redshirt sophomore Ta’Quan Roberson and incoming freshman Christian Veilleux of Canada, who will participate in spring drills.
“For a new quarterback coming in, it’s nearly impossible to play without spring practice,” Yurcich said. “It gives him a leg up to compete in the fall to be the backup or maybe the (starting) guy.”
Yurcich did not comment on any players, including returning starter Clifford, saying, “It’s best for me to be non-judgmental, especially with the media, until I’ve seen a spring practice.”
He did say the most important training he can provide his quarterbacks is “our eyes have to be right, and our feet have to be right.”
He said explosion plays and minimizing turnovers will be points of emphasis.
His high-scoring offenses at Oklahoma State and Texas have featured an up-tempo pace, which he said, “helped us minimize the communication a defense can have between each play while also trying to exhaust them.”
Yurcich, 45, said he had several discussions with PSU coach James Franklin over the years concerning possible employment as the two share a common bond of having played in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference, Franklin at East Stroudsburg and Yurcich at California University of Pa.
Among the influences he mentioned were Lou Tepper and Scott Browning at Edinboro, Mark Maciejewski at Shippensburg, Oklahoma State’s Mike Gundy and Ohio State’s Ryan Day and “a lot of the assistant coaches and elite quarterbacks” he’s worked with.
One of Yurcich’s first orders of business will be helping Franklin hire a replacement for Tyler Bowen.
It was reported Monday night that Bowen, who coached the Nits’ tight ends for the last three seasons and was co-offensive coordinator in 2020, has accepted a position as tight ends coach on Urban Meyer’s staff with the Jacksonville Jaguars.