STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Ricky Rahne stood in the locker room following Penn State's Fiesta Bowl win, but in the midst of the celebration, rather than focusing on all that went right -- and there was plenty during the Nittany Lions' 545-yard output -- he highlighted what went wrong.
A Trace McSorley pitch to Miles Sanders went awry and Rahne wasn't about to create an excuse or brush it off as part of a win. It would've been understandable if he did, especially after all that went well that night, but he couldn't verbalize the look fast enough from up in the booth. As Washington got the ball the Lions' offensive coordinator was still fed up with himself for not making the adjustment.
"The biggest thing with Ricky, and somebody said it the other day is, he's too smart and he works too hard not to be successful," James Franklin said this spring. "When you have that combination you have a chance."
Rahne's his own toughest critic and his attention to detail has long been on display to Franklin as they climbed through the coaching ranks together. This spring, as Rahne roams the hallways in the Lasch Football Building no longer as just the quarterback's coach or just the tight end's coach, he's looking for input from everyone else.
Perhaps the quarterbacks should do something different with their footwork during a practice, something he'll run by McSorley and Tommy Stevens. Maybe it's something that should be tweaked in Rahne's stack of meeting notes, which he has penned down to every last detail. That trait he picked up during his tenure at Kansas State working for Bill Snyder and certainly his time working under Franklin -- who plans out every scenario under the sun -- has only reaffirmed Rahne's knack for the finer details.
"It’s been a real seamless transition," McSorley said this spring. "Really, a lot of other guys in our offense he’s been here for the same time we have and maybe not necessarily as a coordinator but as our position coach so he knows everyone on this offense, he knows what positions they’re in, what situations where some guys might need to get a little better and everyday he comes out here he’s extremely competitive and he wants us winning every single period, every single rep and he’s going to push us to be as good as we can be. He wants that out of this offense every day."
It was Rahne's willingness to embrace whatever position he coached that helped groom him for this opportunity and spending two years bouncing ideas around with Joe Moorhead helped Rahne become Moorhead's successor. This move, should it go well for Penn State, could mean longevity between the head coach and the offensive coordinator as Rahne expressed his desire before to not become a head coach. That's advantageous for Penn State in the long run and also this spring as life after Saquon Barkley includes one less transition.
"It helps when you're in a situation like this and you have a transition," Franklin said. "It helped Trace McSorley that we made the decision that we made so they're not all having to learn something new, but let's be honest, it also helps Ricky Rahne that he's got Trace McSorley, a veteran quarterback, and probably the strongest offensive line we've had since we've been here so I think that is kind of ideal in terms of if you have to go through transition."
Keep in mind it was Rahne who lobbied with Franklin to head to a Virginia high school for an early morning workout to see the player who they had already offered a scholarship to as a safety complete a workout as a quarterback. That player ended up being the one who helped quarterback Penn State to a Big Ten title, Rose Bowl berth and a Fiesta Bowl victory -- all the more reason why the relationship between QB and OC should continue to help this offense light up the scoreboard.
And while there inevitably will be different tweaks to the offense, mostly in the form of input from the other position coaches and Franklin, expect many of the same concepts that helped the offense thrive the past two seasons be on display this year.
Just don't look for those wrinkles to appear in a couple weekends during the 15th and final practice of the spring also known as the Blue-White game.
"We haven't really added too much. Right now the spring is just basics. We haven't really spiced anything up yet, that comes with the season," wide receiver DeAndre Thompkins said. "But, I would say there is a different kind of environment. It's very competitive. We go out with a chip on our shoulder every practice and it's kind of a you versus the world type of mentality for us as an offense. I wouldn't say there's any different plays or anything like that, just new ways to attack every practice and every team period."