Mike Yurcich sets tone for Sean Clifford, Penn State offense: ‘He’s not a thermometer, he’s a thermostat’

STATE COLLEGE — Sean Clifford has established himself as a tough, hard-nosed competitor during his time at Penn State, especially in his two seasons as the team’s starting quarterback. The results haven’t always been consistent, and Clifford’s own play has been up-and-down at times, particularly in 2020, but his effort and desire have been there.

During his first few weeks of practice as the new Penn State offensive coordinator, Mike Yurcich has stood out with his energy and intensity on the practice field. The Lions, one player said earlier this month, know where Yurcich is at all times on the field.

In that respect, Yurcich and Clifford are kindred spirits. They share those traits. And with Clifford coming off a season in which he was benched, the Lions are hoping that those similarities can lead to positive results for the redshirt junior signal caller.

“It’s funny that you bring that up because I think the same way,” Clifford said Monday morning over Zoom.

“When we’re casual, we’re casual, but when we’re working, we are working, and I think that’s how I am. I’m a fiery guy, I enjoy the passion that football brings, and I think that Coach Yurcich would say the same.”

Yurcich’s arrival in State College came after just one season with Kirk Ciarrocca in the offensive coordinator position on coach James Franklin’s staff. As a team, the Lions struggled to an 0-5 start last season, but the offense couldn’t find its footing on a consistent basis, so Franklin made the change.

Ciarrocca had the unfortunate circumstances of implementing his offense over Zoom because of the coronavirus pandemic. With Yurcich, the Lions are in Holuba Hall or on the practice fields, and they’re receiving in-person instruction.

In those situations, Yurcich can be himself and exert his full influence over the players.

“He makes you excited to come to work, and he makes you just want to be there,” Clifford said. “It’s really just every single day, just the way he talks, the way he commands the room. He’s not a thermometer, he’s a thermostat. When he walks in, he changes the temperature of the room, and it inspires me as well as a leader to learn from that, to learn about how he makes sure that when he’s talking, everybody’s listening.

“He is somebody who, as he says, brings the juice every day. He’s never short of it.”

Yurcich’s arrival signals yet another change for Clifford, who’s entering his fifth season with the program. Yurcich follows in the footsteps of Ciarrocca, Ricky Rahne and Joe Moorhead as the offensive coordinators during Clifford’s time with the Lions. That’s nearly constant turnover. Rahne is the only offensive coordinator Clifford worked with for more than one season.

Clifford, though, spun those changes as a positive Monday morning. He emphasized that the changes give him more experiences to draw on when he’s playing. Instead of time in one system, he’ll have time in four systems, which means he’s been exposed to more systems and more schemes.

“Obviously, I would say that you’d like to have a little bit of consistency, but at the same time, I feel like I’ve taken advantage of every single person that has walked through this building from an offensive coordinator perspective,” Clifford said. “And I think that’s going to benefit myself, my teammates and just everybody in the long run, as long as we just take it as an opportunity to grow and learn from every person.”

Clifford said it’s too early to tell what the final form of Yurcich’s offense will be because the team is only a couple practices into its installation. But both Clifford and wide receiver Jahan Dotson expressed excitement Monday in learning the offense and putting it into practice on field.

Clifford described the offense as “a combination of explosiveness and grinding out the ball,” which could bode well for the Lions with a wide receiver like Dotson on the outside and a deep stable of running backs behind Clifford. Plus, the system is designed for things to happen quickly.

“One thing that really sticks out is the tempo that we use in practice and I’m really looking forward to that,” Dotson said. “I can’t dive into too much, but that’s one thing that definitely sticks out to me in particular.”

Yurcich has “given us a lot of optimism,” Clifford said. Given Yurcich’s track record from his time at Texas, Ohio State and Oklahoma State, there should be reason for excitement for Penn State.

But whether Yurcich’s offense reaches its potential depends on the quarterback. Yurcich has coached Sam Ehlinger, Justin Fields and Mason Rudolph to statistically impressive seasons. The Lions need Clifford to join that lineage in order to have a successful season.

And based on their early time together, the quarterback feels a kinship with his offensive coordinator. That could lead to results on the field this fall.

“I’m enjoying every minute being coached by him,” Clifford said. “He’s a great coach, he’s very inspiring, and at the same time, he makes me want to come to work every day. And that’s what we’ve been doing. We’ve been working.”