ALTOONA, Pa. -- When the Penn State offense hits the field against Indiana in a little under two weeks, it will look a bit different than it did last season.
While quarterback Sean Clifford returns with fellow playmakers, tight end Pat Freiermuth and running back Journey Brown, it will be those coaching the offense who have changed over the course of the extended offseason.
Gone is former offensive coordinator Ricky Rahne, now the head coach at Old Dominion. Also gone are offensive line coach Matt Limegrover and wide receivers coach Gerad Parker.
Rahne called plays for the offense for two seasons following the departure of Joe Moorhead to Mississippi State. The offense never seemed to live up to the expectations set under Moorhead, and Rahne didn’t seem quite comfortable calling the shots.
In Rahne’s place is Kirk Ciarrocca who was previously at Minnesota and Western Michigan running the offense for current Minnesota head coach P.J. Fleck.
"There's a lot of confidence that comes with his experience at this point in his career," Penn State head coach James Franklin said recently. "It's made this transition pretty smooth.”
Joining Ciarrocca in the offensive meeting room is Phil Trautwein who takes over for Limegrover and Taylor Stubblefield who takes over for Parker.
Trautwein inherits a group that largely underperformed under Limegrover, however, they do return three starters. At his previous stop at Boston College, Trautwein coached a unit that boasted four All-ACC linemen and had the best blitz-down sack rate in the FBS.
The offensive line returns three starters as well as two part-time starters from last season.
Stubblefield joins the Nittany Lions after spending 2019 with the Miami Hurricanes. He takes over a group that will have to replace the production of KJ Hamler, who is now suiting up in the NFL.
Stubblefield will be the fourth wide receivers coach for Penn State in the past four seasons and it’ll be an uphill climb to get the production and the stability needed for them to contribute.
There will be talent at wide receiver with Jahan Dotson, but there are quite a few question marks with the inexperienced Daniel George, Parker Washington and KeAndre Lambert-Smith.
Stubblefield has made an impression on his boss in the short time they have been on the field together.
“It’s been good. Obviously, he’s an experienced wide receivers coach,” Franklin said of Stubblefield. “I’ve been pleased with him, he’s aggressive on the field with our guys. I’ve really enjoyed watching him coach and interact with our guys.”