(After publication of this column, it was reported that Penn State defensive line coach Sean Spencer is leaving for a job with the New York Giants.)
If seems to you like James Franklin has been hiring full-time assistant coaches left and right at Penn State lately, you’d be right.
Like three in a recent 24-day span.
And nine over the past 26 months.
Only time will tell how the most recent trio will pan out. But, at first blush, it looks like offensive coordinator/QB coach Kirk Ciarrocca and O-line coach Phil Trautwein are both upgrades.
Not so sure about wide receivers coach Taylor Stubblefield, the Nittany Lions’ fourth coach at WR in as many seasons, who is on his 12th job in 14 years.
Still, through the rash of departures over the past two seasons, Franklin’s Lions have had a 20-6 record (four by five points or less) and a first-ever spot in the weekly College Football Playoff rankings.
Such movement is, in part, the price of success. Two Penn State assistants left for head coaching jobs, three more for promotions to a coordinator position. There were also a couple of Franklin misses, as a few of the departed PSU assistants “were asked,” ala Felix Unger of the Odd Couple, “to remove themselves” from their place of employment.
Turnover is part of the business, especially when expectations are high and paychecks are even higher.
For Franklin, now seven years and three weeks into his time at Penn State, only three of the original nine assistants he hired at PSU in 2014 remain, all on the defensive side of the ball: coordinator Brent Pry, who has seen his salary close to double; Wild Dog Sean Spencer; and PSU letterman Terry Smith.
College staffs, Penn State’s included, expanded from nine full-time assistants to 10 in 2018. Of the 22 full-time assistants CJF has had at PSU (counting interim QB coach Kirk Campbell, since departed), 15 have been on offense, only five have been on defense and two on special teams.
Sound like a lot?
Well, in one less season, the eccentric known as Jim Harbaugh has had 24 assistants in his time at Michigan. And counting. The two remaining assistants on the Michigan staff who were there when Harbaugh came aboard in 2015 are his son, Jay, and former Penn Stater and current Wolverine cornerback coach Michael Zordich.
In 2020, Harbaugh will have almost as many 2014 Franklin assistants at Michigan (two) as Franklin does at Penn State (three), now that Bob Shoop has been added to the U-M staff, joining offensive coordinator Josh Gattis, in his second year as Harbaugh’s offensive coordinator. Both staffs have one former Nittany Lion co-captain as well — in Zordich (1985) and Smith (1991).
(Interestingly, Harbaugh has had the better record in the Big Ten, at 32-12 vs. Franklin’s 34-18. Franklin, of course, has a Big Ten title and a win over Ohio State. Harbaugh is 3-2 vs. Franklin.)
Not counting Rutgers, which turned over its entire staff — save for 2019 interim head coach Nunzio Campanile, who was retained — in the Big Ten the Nittany Lions are tied with Purdue for most new assistant coaches heading into the 2020 season, with three.
While Penn State, 11-2 and ranked ninth in 2019, is operating from a position of strength, Purdue head coach Jeff Brohm was looking to shake some things up after a desultory 4-8 season. He fired three assistants — all on the defensive side — who had been with him in West Lafayette since Day One.
Rutgers, with the return of Greg Schiano, is the only Big Ten Conference team that made a head coaching change in the offseason. (Actually, Rutgers fired Chris Ash four games into the 2019 season.) Schiano, who was 68-67 from 2001-11 at Rutgers, has hired a 10-man assistant coaching staff that features five former Scarlet Knights assistant coaches.
As the numbers below show, four Big Ten teams did not make any changes to their assistant coaching staff in the offseason. Maryland’s Mike Locksley, despite a 3-9 record in his first full season as the Terps’ head coach, had only one change on his staff. Two changes seemed to be the norm for a chunk of the conference, as six head coaches made a pair of changes each.
P.J. Fleck must be doing something right at Minnesota: two of his top assistants were stolen away by fellow Big Ten schools, Ciarrocca by Penn State and D-line coach Jim Panagos by Rutgers.
For assistant coaches in the Big Ten Conference this offseason, there was a good deal of stability. Not counting Rutgers, there were only 19 changes among the 130 assistant coaches’ slots in the Big Ten, a turnover rate of only 15%. Counting the nine changes at Rutgers, the rate jumps to 20% (28 of 140).
Here’s a team-by-team breakdown of changes (in parentheses) on Big Ten fulltime football coaching staffs, gleaned and from each school’s website. Assistants’ combined years on the fulltime coaching staff of their current school, sometimes in two separate stints, are included:
ILLINOIS (2) — HC Lovie Smith, 5th season, 6-7 in 2019; 15-34 overall/8-28 Big Ten. Assistants years on FT staff: 27. Additions: DT coach Al Davis (Hutchinson Community Colleges, DE Jimmy Lindsey (Western Kentucky). Departures: S Gill Boyd (fired), DL Austin Clark (Miami Dolphins).
INDIANA (2) — HC Tom Allen, 4th season, 8-5 in 2019; 18-20/9-18. Assistants years on FT staff: 39. Additions: S Jason Jones (Florida Atlantic). TE Kevin Wright (IMG). Departures: OC Kalen DeBoer (HC, Fresno State), Co-DC William Inge (Fresno State).
IOWA (0) — HC Kirk Ferentz, 22nd season, 10-3 in 2019; 162-104/97-75. Assistants years on FT staff: 79.
MARYLAND (1) — HC Mike Locksley, 2nd season, 3-9 in 2019; 3-9/1-8. Assistants years on FT staff: 19. Addition: ST/ILB George Helow (Colorado State). Departure: ST John Papuchis (Florida State).
MICHIGAN (2) — HC Jim Harbaugh, 6th season, 9-4 in 2019; 47-18/32-12. Assistants years on FT staff: 30. Additions: S Bob Shoop (Mississippi State), LB Brian Jean-Murray (USF). Departures: LB Anthony Campanile (Miami Dolphins), S Chris Partridge (Ole Miss).
MICHIGAN STATE (0) — HC Mark Dantonio, 14th season, 7-6 in 2019; 115-57/69-39. Assistants years on FT staff: 100.
MINNESOTA (2)— HC P.J. Fleck, 4th season, 11-2 in 2019; 23-15/12-15. Assistants years on FT staff: 29. Additions: OC/QB Mike Sanford Jr. (Utah State), DL Chad Wilt (Cincinnati). Departures: QB/OC Kirk Ciarrocca (Penn State), DL Jim Panagos (Rutgers).
OHIO STATE (2) — HC Ryan Day, 2nd season, 13-1 in 2019; 16-1/10-0. Assistants years on FT staff: 34. Additions: DC Kerry Combs (Tennessee Titans), QB Corey Dennis (Ohio State QC). Departures: Co-DC Jeff Hafley (HC, Boston College), OC/QB Mike Yurcich (Texas).
NEBRASKA (2) — HC Scott Frost, 3rd season, 5-7 in 2019; 98-15/6-12. Assistants years on FT staff: 25. Additions: OC/WR: Matt Lubick (Washington, 2018), OLB Mike Dawson (NY Giants). Departures: LB Jovan Dewitt (North Carolina), OC/WR Troy Walters.
NORTHWESTERN (0) — HC Pat Fitzgerald, 15th season, 3-9 in 2019; 99-79/57-59. Assistants years on FT staff: 74.
PENN STATE (3) — HC James Franklin, 7th season, 11-2 in 2019; 56-23/34-18. Assistants years on FT staff: 44. Additions: OC/QB Kirk Ciarrocca (Minnesota), OL Phil Trautwein (Boston College), WR Taylor Stubblefield. Departures: OC/QB Ricky Rahne (HC, Old Dominion), OL Matt Limegrover, WR Gerad Parker (OC, West Virginia).
PURDUE (3) — HC Jeff Brohm, 4th season, 4-8 in 2019; 17-21/12-15. Assistants years on FT staff: 29. Additions: ST/Def Marty Biagi (N. Texas State), DC/LB Bob Diaco (La Tech), DL Terrace Jamison (Air Force). Departures: DC Nick Holt, DL/ST Kevin Wolthausen, DL Reggie Johnson.
RUTGERS (9) — HC Greg Schiano, 1st season in 2020; 68-67 in 2001-11. Assistants years on FT staff: 32. Additions: OC/QB Sean Gleason (Oklahoma State), DC Robb Smith (Texas A&M), SEC Fran Brown (Temple), DL Jim Panagos (Minnesota), LB Bob Fraser (New England Patriots), OL Andrew Aurich (Princeton), Asst. Augie Hffman (St. Joseph of Montvale), ST Adam Scheier (Mississippi State), WR Tiquan Underwood (Miami Dolphins). Departures: Only Nunzio Campanile retained.
WISCONSIN (0)— HC Paul Chryst, 6th season; 10-4 in 2019; 52-16/34-10. Assistants years on FT staff: 62.
