STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- The decision to promote Ricky Rahne to offensive coordinator was as much about James Franklin believing that his longtime friend and colleague is a "rising star" in the profession as it was making sure these players won't waste time learning an entirely new offense.
Rahne, who was elevated from tight ends coach to offensive coordinator on Friday, will call the plays for the Nittany Lions' Fiesta Bowl matchup against Washington on Dec. 30 and all of the Lions' new staffers -- from special teams coordinator Phil Galiano to tight ends coach Tyler Bowen -- will use the lead up to the game to get acclimated to this roster and their duties.
"Although we're going to keep the offense the same, I want Ricky to take the offense and run with it and I know he will," Franklin said Sunday night on a teleconference, his first time addressing the staff changes. "We had a very honest conversation in both directions, some of his concerns, some of my concerns, making sure we're all on the same page so we know what we're signing up for."
Rahne recruited every quarterback on Penn State's roster, a detail Franklin highlighted and one the head coach said was important for him to keep in mind when he was working to fill that void in his coaching staff within the past week. Rahne was the assistant who showed up and put Trace McSorley through an early morning workout when the high schooler was looked upon by many schools as a safety. Making sure the offense isn't drastically changed ahead of McSorley's senior season was one factor that went into the decision, Franklin said.
This also in all likelihood means McSorley will stick around for his senior season, which seemed pretty much a given anyhow.
Having worked in this offense for two seasons and working with Franklin for years -- dating all the way back to Rahne's time as a graduate assistant at Kansas State -- all factored into the head coach's decision. However, Rahne's rapport with the players, specifically the quarterbacks whom Rahne coached before Joe Moorhead arrived, was also one reason Franklin went this route.
"I think that's a big reason why I did it to be honest with you," Franklin said when asked how the players have responded to Rahne's promotion. "You go out and hire someone new, you're starting all over. You don't go out and hire someone to come in and run someone else's offense. On top of that, Ricky recruited all those quarterbacks. I don't know if it's fair to Trace McSorley, a senior quarterback, coming up on his senior year to change the offense and start all over again, same thing with Tommy Stevens and the young guys. I think a big part of my decision process was the relationships with the quarterbacks and the fact he recruited all those guys and the rest of the guys on the team knowing we're going to continue building on what we're doing right now."
The staff will work through these many adjustments during bowl prep, like whether or not Rahne calls plays from up in the booth where he's most comfortable or if he goes to the sideline and coaches from there like McSorley was used to with Moorhead. Even something as simple as who is throwing passes to the tight ends during practice drills has to be worked out, as Franklin joked the tight ends have told their ex-position coach he must now be "too good" to throw them passes.
Graduate assistant Mark Dupuis will coach the running backs for the bowl game and then afterward the Lions will work to hire a 10th assistant coach who will coach that position, Franklin said. The head coach said the Lions will "hopefully have someone in place before that" but the coach wouldn't be able to start until January anyhow when all FBS teams are allowed to add their new 10th assistant coach.
When Franklin looks for the last and final staff addition, he'll do so following the same guidelines that he's used time and time again. That's what led him to select Rahne and all these assistants and coordinators he's worked with before and now, with back-to-back appearances in New Year's Six games, this isn't the time to deviate from that plan.
"You have the aspect where you go out and make the sexy hire that everyone is excited about from school X, or school Z or the NFL, but at the end of the day, you've gotta make the right decision for Penn State that is going to keep the program moving forward," Franklin said. "You kind of have two different models: You can go outside and hire a new guy and bring him in, but when they do that they're going to want to run their offense or defense and, in a perfect world for me, I'd like to promote from within. I'd like to keep the same schemes so it's less change for the players. It's a challenge. I'd love to keep this staff together forever, but there's going to be change. The players gotta handle that. The coaches gotta handle that and we've gotta keep moving forward."