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Notebook: Ciarrocca Settles Into Routine as Remote Learning Pushes Ahead

From the jump, Kirk Ciarrocca took the advice of Dr. Josh Nelson seriously.

Penn State’s assistant athletic director for applied health and performance science, Nelson suggested that all Nittany Lion players focus on keeping a routine. Prevented from returning to campus due to the COVID-19 pandemic following the university’s spring break, Nelson pushed players to find and develop some consistency amid the pandemic that has disrupted normalcy worldwide.

Ciarrocca, Penn State’s new offensive coordinator since his Dec. 26 hiring, sought the same peace of mind.

“It probably took me about a week to establish a routine, but right away, I just said hey, I'm going to start work every day at seven o'clock. That's how I go,” Ciarrocca said. “But I think what we've been able to do over the course of time is now I have a schedule, an itinerary.”

From 7 a.m. to 10 on Mondays, that means football work followed immediately by a staff meeting. Then, he said, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., he knocks off his recruiting calls before his afternoon meeting with the quarterbacks. And throughout the evening, he aims to complete three recruiting evaluations.

“So that's a Monday and Tuesday is just a little bit different itinerary, but it's set up all the way from seven in the morning until five,” he said. “And then I have something in the p.m. that I'll work on a little bit.”

Meeting with the media for the first time since a Feb. 5 late signing period press conference, Ciarrocca took time out of his Tuesday itinerary to answer a variety of questions via Zoom web conferencing.

Let’s get into some of the news and notes items to emerge from the session, here:

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1) Like every other college football program around the country barred from practicing this spring, Penn State’s remote work is especially short - nay, absent - hands-on technique instruction.

And, due to the timing of Ciarrocca’s hiring, he has yet to see anyone but quarterback Sean Clifford throw a pass in person. Relying on game film from last season, Ciarrocca’s handle has been limited in his ability to evaluate the skill sets of backups Will Levis, Ta’Quan Roberson, and Michael Johnson.

That hasn’t meant their time together has been unproductive, though. Describing the Nittany Lions’ four scholarship quarterbacks as having “a great work ethic and the ability to learn,” Ciarrocca offered a cognitive evaluation for the group.

“Our time has really been spent in the classroom, so I've got a feel for them as people, how they learn. They're very Intelligent guys, been well-trained and I'm looking forward to continuing to work with them,” he said. “But I'm anxious to be on the field with them and watch them grow and watch them process stuff in real-time.”

At present, NCAA rules restrict meetings to eight hours a week between players and coaches, which Ciarrocca does primarily in a group virtual learning setting. Then, once a week, he talks to each of the four quarterbacks individually to check in on them personally as well as answer questions in a one-on-one format.


2) Unable to take the day’s classroom learning and translate it to the field, Penn State’s coaches have been left to double-down on the intellectual side of the game.

Describing a virtual learning environment very much on par with any academic course, Ciarrocca said that the staff as a whole has started to rely more on quizzes following meetings to assess the necessary absorption of information.

“You get a look at it and you can really kind of grade yourself as a teacher, right? If the guys all bombed the quiz, then you have to look at yourself and say, shoot, I did not do a great job… presenting this material. What was wrong with my presentation here?” Ciarrocca said. “So the feedback has been immediate, at least that's how we've been attacking it. I'm really pleased with what we've been getting back from the players from a quiz standpoint, so they're obviously grasping the material.”

Based on the day-to-day uncertainty of the immediate future regarding a return to on-campus practices and playing, plus the newness of the terminology being taught in his “hybrid” offensive system, Ciarrocca stressed the critical importance of the elements currently being taught.

“We've got to make sure our players understand execution is about alignment, assignment, technique, and then doing it. You got to be able to do it to execute something,” Ciarrocca said. “So right now, we're focused on alignment, assignment, and technique, making sure they understand the whys. Why is it this way? Why is this better with it?

“This way, so when they get back here and we start practicing... they already know the alignment, assignment, and technique. Now we can focus on those little details that allow you the best chance to do your job. Offensive football is 11 guys working together, all doing their job and trusting the guy next to them.”

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3) To that end, Ciarrocca has been pleased with the motivation and work ethic shown thus far by the players throughout the program.

One of the most consistent themes from the coaches that have appeared for media sessions has been motivation, and Penn State’s ability to maintain it through these deeply unusual circumstances. And in that vein, Ciarrocca’s assessment of the players’ responses echoed that of his colleagues.

“We've been presented with a situation and now we have to attack what we have to work with,” he said. “So we're doing this remote learning with it right now and the guys have attacked it.

“I think the players have done an unbelievable job with just staying engrossed in it and they know that hey, this is the situation, we're not going to be able to install something and go out and walk through it, so we've got to study it a little bit harder right now maybe than we would have had to in the past because we can't physically go out and do it. The credit goes to the players and how hard they've worked at it so far, and I've been pleased with what they've been able to grasp.”


4) The players’ learning, of course, has been dictated by the coherence of Penn State’s new system and the coaches delivering the message each week.

Ciarrocca was unequivocal in his praise for the staff that head coach James Franklin has assembled to do just that.

Describing an atmosphere in which feedback and opinions are encouraged, Ciarrocca said the time building the program’s new offensive system was exactly what he’d hoped to have.

“Everybody's on the same page and everybody felt good about speaking their mind and giving their opinions, and when you're building a system like we're building here, that's needed,” Ciarrocca said. “I said before that we've got as good of assistant coaches as anybody in the country. I feel like we've got the best group of guys I've ever worked with. So as we're putting this system together, Penn State's offensive system, we've been all working together and all contributing together.

“It's definitely not my system, it's our system now. It's Penn State's players. It's the coaching staff. And we've all contributed to this thing. And that's what's been great and really exciting about it. I think when you have the right culture and the right direction, and you get a group of guys together that have had all the experiences that our staff has had, and you build something, that can be exciting. I'm really excited about where we're headed and the direction that we're going, and I honestly can't wait to see this offense in motion.”

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