Kirk Ciarrocca

Kirk Ciarrocca (born August 12, 1965), is an American football coach who was most recently the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Penn State.

Kirk Ciarrocca
Biographical details
Born (1965-08-12) August 12, 1965
Alma materTemple University
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1990–1991Temple (GA)
1992Western Connecticut State (PGC/WR)
1993Delaware Valley (PGC/WR)
1994–1995Western Connecticut State (OC/QB/WR)
1996–1999Princeton (WR)
2000–2001Penn (WR)
2002–2007Delaware (OC/QB)
2008–2010Rutgers (co-OC/QB)
2011Richmond (QB)
2012Delaware (RB)
2013–2016Western Michigan (OC/QB)
2017–2019Minnesota (OC/QB)
2020Penn State (OC/QB)

Early life

Ciarrocca, a native of York County, graduated from Red Land High School in Lewisberry, Pennsylvania.[1][2] After high school he attended Juniata College where he played defensive back for the Eagle's football team before a knee injury ended his career. He continued his education at Temple University, where he earned both a bachelors and masters degree of education.[3][4]

Coaching career

Ciarrocca began his coaching career in 1990 as an offensive graduate assistant at his alma mater Temple.[1] He spent the 1992 and 1993 seasons as the passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach at Western Connecticut State and Delaware Valley respectively.[2] He returned to Western Connecticut State as the offensive coordinator for the 1994 and 1995 seasons before spending six seasons in the Ivy League.[5]

From 1996 to 1999 Ciarrocca served as the wide receiver coach and junior varsity head coach for the Princeton Tigers. The next two seasons Ciarrocca served as the wide receivers coach at the University of Pennsylvania. While at Penn, he helped the Quakers post a record of 7-3 in 2000 and 8-1 in 2001. The Quakers were Ivy League Champions in 2000 and league runner-up in 2001. Penn ranked No. 1 in NCAA FCS in team passing and fourth in total offense in 2000.[2][5][6]

Delaware

Ciarrocca spent six seasons as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens and head coach K. C. Keeler from 2002 to 2007. During his time at Delaware, the Blue Hens posted a record of 52-26, winning the 2003 Division I-AA National Championship,[7] and captured consecutive Atlantic 10 Conference titles in 2003 and 2004.[8] Ciarrocca mentored Joe Flacco who was a first round selection in the 2008 NFL Draft.[9] Flacco threw for over 4,000 yards in 2007 while leading the Blue Hens to an 11-4 record and the FCS title game.[10][11]

Rutgers

In 2008, Ciarrocca was hired by the Rutgers University and head coach Greg Schiano as the Scarlet Knights wide receivers coach.[7] During his time as wide receivers coach, Ciarrocca tutored Kenny Britt who was selected in the first round of the 2009 NFL Draft and Tiquan Underwood who was selected in the seventh round of that same draft.[12][13] Following the 2008 season, Ciarrocca was promoted to quarterbacks coach and co-offensive coordinator for the Scarlet Knights, a title he would share with offensive line coach Kyle Flood.[14] This is a title that Ciarrocca would hold for two season before being fired. In 2010, the Scarlet Knighs' offense ranked 114th out of 120 teams, and finished with a 4-8 record.[15]

Richmond and Delaware

Ciarrocca spent the 2011 season coaching quarterbacks for the Richmond Spiders and interim head coach Wayne Lineburg before rejoined the Delaware staff and head coach K.C. Keeler as the teams running backs coach in 2012.[2]

Western Michigan

In 2013, Ciarrocca joined the staff of the Western Michigan Broncos and head coach P. J. Fleck as the team's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Fleck and Ciarrocca were on the same staff at Rutgers during the 2010 season.[16] In 2015, Ciarrocca's offense featured a duo of receivers in Daniel Braverman and Corey Davis who each finished the season with more than 1,300 receiving yards.[17][18]

Minnesota

In 2017, it was announced that Ciarrocca would be following head coach P.J. Fleck to Minnesota to be the team's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.[19] During the 2019 season, Ciarrocca's offense touted a pair of 1,000-yard wide receivers in All-American and Big Ten Receiver of the Year Rashod Bateman and All-Big Ten first team honoree Tyler Johnson.[20]

Penn State

On December 26, 2019, it was announced that Ciarrocca was hired by the Penn State Nittany Lions and head coach James Franklin as the offensive coordinator and quarterback coach, a position left vacant by Ricky Rahne.[21] After one season, Ciarrocca was fired and replaced by Mike Yurcich.[22]

References
  1. Juliano, Joe."Temple grad Kirk Ciarrocca named offensive coordinator at Penn State", The Philadelphia Inquirer, December 26, 2019, retrieved December 27, 2019.
  2. Flounders, Bob."Penn State's new offensive coordinator: A closer look at Kirk Ciarrocca's background", pennlive.com, December 26, 2019, retrieved December 27, 2019.
  3. Bodani, Frank."Penn State hires new offensive coordinator", York Daily Record, December 26, 2019, retrieved December 27, 2019.
  4. "Kirk Ciarrocca Named Quarterbacks Coach". richmondspiders.com. Richmond Athletics. September 1, 2011. Archived from the original on December 28, 2019. Retrieved December 28, 2019.
  5. "WMU Football Names Offensive and Defensive Coordinators". wmubroncos.com. Western Michigan University. January 7, 2013. Archived from the original on December 28, 2019. Retrieved December 28, 2019.
  6. "2016 Penn Quakers Football Fact Book (PDF)" (PDF). University of Pennsylvania. Retrieved January 26, 2019. pg. 195
  7. "Schiano Announces Coaching Staff Additions". scarletknights.com. Rutgers University Athletics. February 29, 2008. Archived from the original on December 29, 2019. Retrieved December 29, 2019.
  8. "All-Time Results" (PDF). University of Delaware Athletics. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-10-13. Retrieved 2012-07-09.
  9. Powell, Camille (April 27, 2008). "Ravens Deal to Land Delaware QB Flacco". Washington Post. Retrieved 2010-07-23.
  10. "University of Delaware Quarterback Joe Flacco Forgoes Shrine Game to Play in Under Armour Senior Bowl". University of Delaware. January 15, 2008. Archived from the original on December 12, 2011. Retrieved July 19, 2010.
  11. "Months after Michigan upset, Appalachian State completes FCS 3-peat". ESPN. Associated Press. 2007-12-14. Retrieved 2008-12-20.
  12. Kaye, Mike."NFL rumors: Former Rutgers WR Kenny Britt to make comeback in NFC East?", NJ.com, April 1, 2019, retrieved December 30, 2019.
  13. "NJ Football: Former Notre Dame High star Tiquan Underwood making mark in NFL", NJ.com, September 25, 2010, retrieved December 30, 2019.
  14. "Rutgers Football Announces Staff Promotions". scarletknights.com. Rutgers Athletics Communications. February 24, 2009. Archived from the original on February 28, 2009. Retrieved January 3, 2020.
  15. Sargeant, Keith (August 1, 2017). "Why did Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck hire ex-Rutgers assistants as coordinators?". www.nj.com. Advance Local Media LLC. Retrieved January 3, 2020.
  16. "WMU Football Names Offensive and Defensive Coordinators". www.wmubroncos.com. Western Michigan University. January 7, 2013. Archived from the original on December 28, 2019. Retrieved January 4, 2020.
  17. Dickerson, Jeff (May 26, 2016). "Be Like Mike: Motivated Bears WR Daniel Braverman has no regrets". www.espn.com. ESPN.com. Archived from the original on April 11, 2017. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
  18. Dacey, Justin (April 7, 2016). "Western Michigan's Corey Davis developing into complete leader with 'unfinished business' on mind". www.mlive.com. MLive Media Group. Archived from the original on November 13, 2016. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
  19. "Fleck Announces Coaching Staff". www.gophersports.com. University of Minnesota Athletics. January 17, 2017. Archived from the original on November 16, 2019. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
  20. "Bateman, Johnson Named All-Big Ten First Team", www.gophersports.com, December 4, 2019, retrieved January 5, 2020.
  21. Giger, Cory.oc/ "Pennsylvania native Ciarrocca hired as PSU OC", Williamsport Sun-Gazette, December 26, 2019, retrieved December 27, 2019.
  22. Giger, Cory (January 8, 2021). "BREAKING: CIARROCCA OUT, REPLACED BY YURCICH". nittanysportsnow.com. Nittany Sports Now. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
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