Penn State Football: Rahne To Stay In Booth As Clifford Era Begins

Penn State offensive coordinator Ricky Rahne will continue to call the Nittany Lion offense from the booth as it transitions to the Sean Clifford era.

It’s a small detail, but sometimes those are the ones that make the biggest difference.

For the casual fan it goes unnoticed, but for the attentive, it has been something of a point of contention over the years. Former quarterback Christian Hackenberg preferred offensive coordinator John Donovan on the sideline, and Donovan eventually acquiesced.

Rahne’s predecessor, Joe Moorhead called games from the sidelines both years while at Penn State and was as hands-on as they come. Trace McSorley flourished under that system and while he was less productive his senior season, those struggles couldn’t be attributed to Rahne’s location in the booth.

On the other side of the ball former defensive coordinator Bob Shoop preferred to watch the game from the booth, the same angle that he watched tape from, while current defensive coordinator Brent Pry stalks the sideline.

This year tight ends coach Tyler Bowen will join Rahne and safeties coach Tim Banks in the booth, a minor change from 2018 when Bowen was on the sideline while Rahne and Banks were the only coaches up on high.

As for Clifford, the newly minted starting quarterback might be the first to have no preference.

‘It’s doesn’t really matter,’ Clifford said with a chuckle after practice Wednesday. ‘In the end he’s going to call the play and I’m going to run it. All week we practice different looks, and honestly when he calls the play I usually know what he’s thinking anyways so I don’t need to look to the sideline to get the smile or the smirk or whatever he’s gotta do. I know what he’s going to say if I messed up so it doesn’t really matter to me, we have a good connection.’

So remember that old drama? It appears to be gone, then again, nothing is dramatic in late August when everyone is still undefeated.