BleedGopher
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per The Athletic:
When Minnesota offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca walked off the field on Nov. 9, 2019, he did so with a quarterback (Tanner Morgan) who had just gone 18-of-20 for 339 yards and three scores in a win over a No. 9-ranked foe, an offense in perfect balance and as part of a 9-0 football team.
Less than two months later, Ciarrocca left Minnesota for the group it beat that day in Minneapolis: Penn State. And he found out the grass isn’t always greener on the other side; sometimes it’s just more expensive.
The 56-year-old Ciarrocca is back in Minnesota and, perhaps most important, back with the head coach with whom he’s always clicked: P.J. Fleck. Ciarrocca and Fleck first met as members of Rutgers’ staff in 2010. Fleck brought Ciarrocca to Western Michigan with him in 2013, and the rest is history. Their offensive partnership might’ve peaked in 2019, when the Gophers went 11-2 and had the eighth-best offense nationally in overall drive efficiency. Without Ciarrocca in the seasons that followed, everything cratered. Sanford, whose pass game is rooted in West Coast principles, never found a groove with the Gophers.
Maybe the best illustration of that is Minnesota’s change in Busted Drive Rate, a Football Outsiders metric measuring the percentage of drives ending with zero or negative yards. The Gophers went from consistently performing well in this area (No. 33 in 2019) to falling apart by the end of 2021, ranking No. 89 nationally last season. When Ciarrocca ran Minnesota’s offense, the Gophers were better situationally. Fleck and Ciarrocca’s partnership — with the OC’s knowledge of how defenses react to formations, motions, down-and-distance, etc. — had been seasoned over time. The Fleck-Mike Sanford Jr. partnership, however, often looked like two different offenses trying to fit together.
The biggest area of focus for Ciarrocca will be reigniting Morgan and the pass offense. Morgan, back for his sixth season, is a four-year starter who enjoyed the best years of his career working with Ciarrocca. The overall change in scheme won’t be as seismic — we’ll see plenty of RPOs and Fleck-familiar things — but the change in day-to-day work and feel will be significant. Minnesota was a more comfortable football team before Ciarrocca left. Morgan was allowed to attack the middle of the field more, Minnesota rarely checked itself into the wrong play from the sideline, and the focus on every down was simply to maximize efficiency on every play call.
When you’re at the type of talent disadvantage Minnesota can be at from a skill standpoint in the Big Ten, efficiency is everything. Expect the Gophers to rediscover some this season.
theathletic.com
Go Gophers!!
Minnesota
Coaching change: OC Kirk Ciarrocca (Penn State) replaces Mike Sanford Jr.When Minnesota offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca walked off the field on Nov. 9, 2019, he did so with a quarterback (Tanner Morgan) who had just gone 18-of-20 for 339 yards and three scores in a win over a No. 9-ranked foe, an offense in perfect balance and as part of a 9-0 football team.
Less than two months later, Ciarrocca left Minnesota for the group it beat that day in Minneapolis: Penn State. And he found out the grass isn’t always greener on the other side; sometimes it’s just more expensive.
The 56-year-old Ciarrocca is back in Minnesota and, perhaps most important, back with the head coach with whom he’s always clicked: P.J. Fleck. Ciarrocca and Fleck first met as members of Rutgers’ staff in 2010. Fleck brought Ciarrocca to Western Michigan with him in 2013, and the rest is history. Their offensive partnership might’ve peaked in 2019, when the Gophers went 11-2 and had the eighth-best offense nationally in overall drive efficiency. Without Ciarrocca in the seasons that followed, everything cratered. Sanford, whose pass game is rooted in West Coast principles, never found a groove with the Gophers.
Maybe the best illustration of that is Minnesota’s change in Busted Drive Rate, a Football Outsiders metric measuring the percentage of drives ending with zero or negative yards. The Gophers went from consistently performing well in this area (No. 33 in 2019) to falling apart by the end of 2021, ranking No. 89 nationally last season. When Ciarrocca ran Minnesota’s offense, the Gophers were better situationally. Fleck and Ciarrocca’s partnership — with the OC’s knowledge of how defenses react to formations, motions, down-and-distance, etc. — had been seasoned over time. The Fleck-Mike Sanford Jr. partnership, however, often looked like two different offenses trying to fit together.
The biggest area of focus for Ciarrocca will be reigniting Morgan and the pass offense. Morgan, back for his sixth season, is a four-year starter who enjoyed the best years of his career working with Ciarrocca. The overall change in scheme won’t be as seismic — we’ll see plenty of RPOs and Fleck-familiar things — but the change in day-to-day work and feel will be significant. Minnesota was a more comfortable football team before Ciarrocca left. Morgan was allowed to attack the middle of the field more, Minnesota rarely checked itself into the wrong play from the sideline, and the focus on every down was simply to maximize efficiency on every play call.
When you’re at the type of talent disadvantage Minnesota can be at from a skill standpoint in the Big Ten, efficiency is everything. Expect the Gophers to rediscover some this season.
What's at stake for new Big Ten offensive play callers in 2022
Six Big Ten schools made changes at offensive coordinator or to the overall play caller hierarchy on that side of the ball.
Go Gophers!!
