As we enter the eighth season of the James Franklin era at Penn State, all with the same defensive coordinator, Brent Pry, we also meet the fifth offensive coordinator. And I think it’s safe to say, after my first in-the-flesh meeting with Mike Yurcich, he is not much like any of his four predecessors.
Not unassuming John Donovan, nor rollicking Joe Moorhead, nor analytical Ricky Rahne, nor underwhelming Kirk Ciarrocca. Unlike any of those, the onetime Shippensburg coordinator and PSAC quarterback sounds like a head coach. He’s emphatic and forceful and is able to express ideas in rapid cadence.
And when he was asked to assess the wideout group he’s inherited from Ciarrocca and whether they can hurt defenses deep the way Penn State really hasn’t consistently since Moorhead departed after the 2017 season, he had a mouthful of an answer.
Part One: To get vertical, it’s on more than the receivers:
“Receiver play and anything in football is relative. Success with the deep ball… means that you’ve gotten the defense to respect your run game. That’s a very important aspect of that, not to be overlooked. I don’t think it’s all on a receiver to just – hey, they gotta win.
“At times? Surely. They have to win a one-on-one matchup, they have to get off press coverage, and we gotta win down the field.
“But along with that comes the ability as an offensive unit to establish the run and set yourself up for success. That’s the key.”
Part Two: Regardless of how rhetorical he was trying to be, the wideouts must improve:
“Now, where are we as a receiver room? Not where we need to be. None of ‘em.”
There was more to come, but at this specific moment, I could not help but be reminded of Bob Knight. Both in tone and intent. Not the raging Knight but the matter-of-fact Knight who wanted to send his team a message.
Yurcich wasn’t talking to me when he said this, even though he was answering my question. He was talking to his receivers through the media. And it sounded like a heaping helping of tough love: Here’s the truth, boys. Deal with it.
The message was about raising expectations.
If there’s one quality Yurcich’s offenses have most consistently exhibited during his eight years in the bigs – since Mike Gundy plucked him from obscurity at Ship to Oklahoma State, then a year at Ohio State and one more at Texas – it’s been the ability to scare defenses deep. They all had big-play makers.
And it sounded very much as if he was not particularly impressed with his new group in that way. He wanted them to hear that. He wants it to change. And not sometime in November.
“I don’t care which individual you look at on our entire offensive unit, we’re not where we need to be yet.”
Now, some of those other Penn State OCs, or geez, just about every assistant who’s run through PSU back to the O’Brien and Paterno regimes, there’s been a certain optimistic acceptance at this point: Gotta keep improving. We’ll get there. It’s to be expected. Not where we will be. Just starting camp.
I did not hear even a smidge of that tone in Yurcich. It was more like: This is where we’d better be.
At this point, he seemed to catch himself and veer into rhetoric, as if it was merely all a philosophy he’d been referencing all along:
“We’re always gonna have that mentality. We have to continue to improve regardless of what last practice was, regardless of what last game’s result was. There has to be a relentless pursuit to improve. It’s a very humbling game. And once you think you’ve arrived – he’s really good, he’s where we need him to be – you’re gonna get caught from behind.”
So, what shape is PSU’s receiving corps in and where’s it going after five years of revolving WR coaches and OCs? Taylor Stubblefield seemed to stabilize it last season and it’s refreshing that he’ll be the first WR coach to actually return since Josh Gattis left for Alabama four years ago.
Jahan Dotson made tangible strides. Parker Washington made an immediate impact as a true freshman. And KeAndre Lambert-Smith began delivering a presence in the season’s second half. That trio is in the spotlight this season. After that, it’s anyone’s guess.
Penn State offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich looks on during practice on Aug. 7, 2021. Joe Hermitt | jhermitt@pennlive.comJoe Hermitt | jhermitt@pennlive.com
What does seem to be a trend with PSU in the 2022 recruiting class: wideouts with modest size but formidable speed and skills. Committed are three 4-star talents and a fourth with a WR heritage who’s been recruited primarily as a cornerback.
The best might be Columbus product Kaden Saunders who’s built along the lines of Stubblefield (5-10, 172) but faster.
What’s become of the Juwan Johnson and Justin Shorter mold? Penn State seems to have trended away from them, with none of the 2022 commits taller than 6-1.
During a question about the 5-10, 207-pound Washington who busts every physical convention for even slot receivers, Yurcich lapsed into philosophy on how size is less important than skill and fit:
“I do think that there are certain attractive wideouts who can do all things. Usually, we have an idea of what that height and weight is.
“But you can’t just say: It’s gotta be this and this is the only type we’re gonna take, and we have our certain standards of how tall he is and what he should weigh and how fast he runs.
“You’ve gotta take everything into consideration when selecting your player. Most important is, how he fits into your roster. Where do you see him playing?
“Then, you try to make sure you fit that particular player into your system, and your system can adjust to fit the player. There’s a balance within that.”
Whether that balance can be achieved with a group Yurcich did not select will be a major storyline in the 2021 season.
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