STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- James Franklin found his offensive coordinator and in reality, it's someone who has been here all along.
Ricky Rahne, Penn State's tight ends coach the past two seasons and the Lions' former quarterbacks coach, was promoted to offensive coordinator on Friday, James Franklin announced. Rahne takes over for Joe Moorhead and like Moorhead, Rahne will also coach the quarterbacks. Moorhead was introduced as Mississippi State's head coach on Thursday where he is officially joined by former Penn State running backs coach/special teams coordinator Charles Huff.
Rahne's promotion wasn't the only staff shakeup. Franklin also announced the addition of former Penn State graduate assistant Tyler Bowen, who will return to Happy Valley after coaching Maryland's offensive linemen this past season. Bowen will coach Penn State's tight ends while Phil Galiano, who spent this season serving as a consultant for the Nittany Lions, is now the special teams coordinator and assistant defensive line coach. Also, wide receivers coach and offensive recruiting coordinator Josh Gattis will now add the title of passing game coordinator while offensive line coach Matt Limegrover will add the title of run game coordinator.
“We are thrilled to elevate Ricky to offensive coordinator and add Tyler and Phil to our staff,” Franklin said in a statement. “Ricky is one of the rising stars in college football. He is extremely sharp, driven and has a great rapport with our players. He has been very involved in our offensive scheme the last two years, which is why I anticipate our offense will continue to thrive under Ricky."
Rahne, who Franklin called a future offensive coordinator earlier this season, also served as the team's play caller during the TaxSlayer Bowl after then-offensive coordinator John Donovan was let go prior to Christian Hackenberg's final collegiate game. Working under Moorhead proved beneficial the last two seasons for Rahne, who said he learned not only the ins and outs of Moorhead's offense, but also about how Moorhead motivated his players. That buy-in is important and Rahne's rapport with these players -- he's been here since Franklin arrived and has already coached and recruited Trace McSorley -- should help make this a smooth transition.
“I am extremely honored and grateful for the opportunity to be the offensive coordinator at Penn State,” Rahne said in a statement. “Ever since arriving on campus, I've hoped that one day I would earn a chance to lead the offense at Beaver Stadium. I've been blessed to learn from some of the best offensive minds in the game. That knowledge gives me confidence that our talented and hard-working players, combined with a terrific coaching staff, can continue to build on our recent success."
Not having to waste much time this offseason revamping an entire offense should bode well for the Lions, who learn their bowl fate Sunday afternoon.
As for their new tight ends coach, Bowen was with the Lions in 2014 and then spent two seasons at Fordham and this past year at Maryland. Bowen, who hails from Georgia, is a logical choice for Franklin given that there's familiarity between the two, part of a relationship that started when Bowen was an offensive lineman at Maryland and Franklin was a coach for the Terrapins at the time. Franklin even mentioned that relationship 10 days ago in his opening statement in the lead up to the Maryland game, recalling Bowen's path back to Maryland. Certainly Franklin has had that hire in mind for quite some time.
After Bowen's playing career concluded he spent one year at Towson, where he coached the tight ends and then made the jump to Penn State where he was an offensive graduate assistant while Franklin was of course head coach of that Penn State team that ended up in the Pinstripe Bowl. Bowen's time at Fordham included one year working under Moorhead, who was the Rams' head coach at the time. Bowen was the offensive line coach for that season under Moorhead in 2015-16 and then after Moorhead left Bowen was elevated to offensive coordinator.
"He has a high football IQ and tremendous passion for the game that will impact our student-athletes on a daily basis," Franklin said. "He has history with our offensive scheme, which will help this be a seamless transition."
Right. That also means much of this offense likely won't be changing with Rahne at the helm and Bowen knowing it as well because of his time with Moorhead.
Galiano, who was hired in March as a defensive consultant, meaning he wasn't able to do hands-on work with the team like assistants do, has a wealth of coaching experience. Given that teams will be able to add a 10th assistant coach come Jan. 9 per new NCAA rules, the Lions' under the radar hiring of Galiano last spring certainly made it seem like they were looking for him to be around for more than just one year.
Galiano's resume includes coaching numerous position groups during multiple stints at Rutgers, including coaching the defensive ends, linebackers, tight ends, special teams, defensive line and serving as the director of recruiting. He was also the defensive coordinator at Florida International from 2007-2009 and was a special teams intern with the Miami Dolphins in 2016. With Galiano coaching the special teams and working alongside Sean Spencer with the defensive linemen, it helps make up for Huff's duties as the former special teams coach.
So, given all these new titles -- which in the case of Gattis and Limegrover in all likelihood means more money as we've seen be the case in previous offseasons when Franklin has elevated others to other positions -- what other spots are left to fill? Penn State still needs a running backs coach, so in all likelihood that should be the 10th assistant. With special teams taken care of they could shuffle around some titles, but that would be running backs would be the obvious hole to fill.
Keep in mind, this is the second time Franklin has promoted a coordinator from within during his Penn State tenure, first going with Brent Pry after defensive coordinator Bob Shoop left and now with Rahne.