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Penn State football finalizes coaching staff adjustments following firing of Mike Yurcich

Greg Pickelby:Greg Pickel11/15/23

GregPickel

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Penn State coach James Franklin speaks with Danny O'Brien.

After firing offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich on Sunday, Penn State coach James Franklin had many decisions to make. He had to promote a current on-field staff member to the role of offensive coordinator. He picked two, as co-offensive coordinator Ja’Juan Seider and Ty Howle will handle the duties Yurcich leaves behind. Beyond that, he also had to choose which member of his off-field support staff would be elevated for the remainder of the season on game day and who would handle the quarterbacks. That decision has now been made.

Current offensive analyst and former ACC and Big Ten defensive coordinator Robb Smith will now wear a headset in the coaches booth on game day. He joined the Lions staff this offseason after a stint at Duke.

“One of our most experienced guys,” Franklin said. “He’s been a defensive coordinator at Duke, Rutgers, Minnesota, just a very experienced guy that we think can bring a lot of value for us.”

Elsewhere, former Big Ten quarterback and current graduate assistant Danny O’Brien will handle the Lions quarterbacks moving forward in Yurcich’s absence. The 10th-year leader of the Penn State program has endlessly praised the 33-year-old Minneapolis, Minn., native who moved into the graduate assistant role from an analyst position this offseason. He has a good rapport with starting quarterback Drew Allar and the rest of the Lions’ quarterbacks and offense.

“Danny’s been very involved,” Franklin said Monday. “Danny’s involved with the quarterbacks. I’m going to make sure I’m in every single one of the quarterback meetings with Danny. And, it allows us to get somebody else in the headset role, as well. We’re still kind of working through that and will make that decision today. But, in terms of the quarterbacks, Danny O’Brien and myself.”

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What does the move mean for Penn State?

O’Brien has been hands-on with the quarterbacks all season. He is also serving as the on-field liaison for the coaches in the booth and the quarterbacks this season. So, while he has an increased role now, little will truly change for him or Penn State for the rest of the season.

“He’s been a huge part of my development,” Allar said earlier this year. “Just because with with his new role, he’s able to be more hands on with us as opposed to last year, where he wasn’t really able to coach just because of all the technicalities with the rules. Since he switched to his new role, he was able to be like, a lot more one-on-one with us. I think he just sees it from both perspectives as a coach and as a player.

“Obviously started under Coach Franklin when they were at Maryland together. Had a couple of good years at Maryland and then he played in the CFL for seven, eight years. So he has a lot of knowledge and experience that he learns from and I mean, he’s a young guy that is always looking to improve. He’s helped me out a ton with making things simplified, identifying defenses, and just really peeling it back to the next level and making sure that I have a reason for doing everything. Danny has meant a lot to my development. And, I’m just glad he’s a part of the staff for sure.”

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