Penn State parts ways with offensive coordiantor Mike Yurcich following Michigan loss

Penn State fired offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich following the Nittany Lions’ 24-15 loss to Michigan Saturday, according to BlueWhite Illustrated.

Yurcich was in the middle of this third season under James Franklin. But, amid offensive struggles, the team elected to cut ties.

Penn State fell to 8-2 on the season with the loss at home to Michigan after a less than stellar offensive effort.

“We thank Mike for his contributions over the last three years but feel it is in our program’s best interest to make a change at this time,” Franklin said in a statement, via BWI. “We wish him and his family nothing but the best in the future.”

Running back’s coach Ja’Juan Seider and tight ends coach Ty Howle will handled Yurcich’s duties now that the latter is gone from the program.

Notably, the struggles of quarterback Drew Allar were in the spotlight, especially Saturday against the Wolverines. But after the game, Franklin was honest about his offense and his comments seemed to point in the direction of Yurcich.

“We’ve got to do a better job of calling a game to allow our quarterback to get into rhythm,” Franklin said. “That is critical. We’ve got to find easy completions for a quarterback to get into rhythm. That’s what everybody does.

“We’ve got to do a good job of that. And then on top of that, although there weren’t sacks, there were too many pressures and there were too many times where we were not creating separation.”

Yurcich was the offensive coordinator and quarterback’s coach at Texas in 2020 before coming to Happy Valley. His coaching career dated back to 1999 in a variety of roles at the high school and college level.

Allar’s been solid this season, but the lack of an offensive attack against Michigan and Ohio State, the two biggest rivals to the school within the Big Ten, put a dark cloud over Yurcich.

This season, Allar has 1,965 yards, 21 touchdowns, one interception and a 61.6% completion percentage.

Penn State, without Yurcich, returns to action Saturday against Rutgers in the penultimate game of the season.