Kirk Ciarrocca: 'We'll Be Back on Top in No Time'

'I'm very confident in my ability to build a successful, top-flight offense,' Penn State offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca says.

Kirk Ciarrocca, Penn State's first-year offensive coordinator, said he has been through less productive seasons than this one and, more often than not, managed to emerge from them successfully.

Ciarrocca predicted the same for Penn State's offense.

"We'll be back on top in no time," Ciarrocca said Thursday. "I feel like the pieces are there, and we just have to continue to grind and trust the process."

Ciarrocca conducted his first in-season media session Thursday, during which he addressed Penn State's quarterback situation, the team's erratic scoring ability and how close the offense is to being what he envisions. Penn State certainly has produced its share of yards this season (ranking third in the Big Ten at 417.8 per game) but also ranks ninth in scoring (25 ppg) and has scored 30 points just once.

So where does Ciarrocca think Penn State has been and is headed? Here's a Q&A culled from the call.

Question: What is your view of the quarterbacks?

Ciarrocca: What I've seen is pretty typical of the team, and it's pretty typical of the culture we have here. Guys continue to work hard, guys doing everything they can to continue to get better each week, and that's really all I can ask out of these guys. I'd like to see us do a better job of taking care of the ball. I think that's No. 1. I think that's always the first thing that you've got to do in building an offense.

Question: How close is the offense from looking how you want it to look?

Ciarrocca: The key thing right now is, we're getting better each week. I see it in practice, but I know this: You've got to do it in practice first or there's no chance, or very little chance, of it happening in games. If it happens in games at that point, it's just luck. But sometimes there's a little bit of a lapse there before you can take the practice field to the game field. I think the first thing we've got to do, which we did last week, was we need to take care of the ball. We need to build on that. I felt like last week our details were better. We didn't give away free plays against ourselves, so have to continue to build on that. It's definitely still a work in process. The offense is not where I want it to be, the results have not been what I want them to be yet, but we're doing everything we can within our control to get better, and that's what I love about this group and love about this culture. ... We'll get there. When? We'll see.

Question: How much of Sean Clifford's issues are him trying to do too much?

Ciarrocca: There are probably multiple things that are affecting him. I think one is definitely trying to be too perfect with things. I think that's probably the biggest issue. I thought last week he really didn't try to be perfect. He trusted what he saw, but [something] that probably contributes to it too is that he's learning a new offense, a new way of thinking about things. That's part of it. It's not effort. I can tell you that. It's not work ethic. We just have to get him to be a little bit more comfortable and trust what he sees out there and know when not to force the ball in there. ... I love the kid, I love the way he works and the potential he has at the position. It's my job to get him to play better, and he has.

Question: How have Clifford and Will Levis handled the past few weeks?

Ciarrocca: I'm really, really impressed with both of the young men and how they handled this situation. Sean, when we told him we were going to go with Will, the way he handled that from a personal standpoint and from a team perspective, and Will the same thing. It's not easy to handle that situation, especially at this age for these guys, but I think it's a tribute to the culture that coach [James Franklin] has built here over his time within the program. Sean was super, super supportive of Will leading up to the Iowa game, and Will's been super supportive of Sean up to that point and since. They compete with each other not against each other and do a great job of helping each other out.

Question: What have you learned about coaching at Penn State and the fan base this season?

Ciarrocca: I understand what comes with the position. We’re going to be judged on those results each Saturday. I get that. I’ve been in the business a long time. One of the things I’ve learned throughout my time in this profession is that I don’t listen to the noise when it’s going bad or when it’s going good. Either way, this job’s hard enough as it is, and you need to focus all your energy on doing your job to the best of your capabilities.

The ride from the outhouse to the penthouse is very short in this profession, and vice versa. I’ve been in both places, spent maybe a little bit more time in the outhouse than the penthouse, thank goodness, or I wouldn’t be here. But [I'm] very confident in my ability to build a successful, top-flight offense. I’ve been able to do it at a number of places and I certainly have the resources to be able to do that here and I’m very excited about it.

... I love the passion and how much the alumni and fans care about this program. That’s one of the reasons I’m here, and I love the program too and am very passionate about it. So I wouldn’t expect them to feel any other way, to be honest with you. But I’m very confident in coach Franklin’s ability to lead this program. That’s another reason why I came here. He’s a very successful guy and has got a very successful formula to give yourselves the best chance to win on Saturdays. Just confident in the ability to do that. We have all the resources here.

I’ll say this one more time: Am I happy with the results? Absolutely not. But I do trust the process, and I’ve been in a lot worse situations than this from a productivity standpoint, and we’ve always managed to come out on the other side. And I’m very confident and I see the pieces here that you can be really good. We’ve just got to continue to trust the process and continue to grind along, and the results will become the results that we all want at some point. That’s the way I feel.

I’ve been this way for a long time, and I think the resume and the track record bears out that it will work out. I can remember last year Minnesota after Week 3, the fan base and the media were all over me about things. They kind of asked me the same question, and I kind of answered it the same way. And I told them I didn’t know exactly when we were going to hit on all cylinders, but the question wasn’t if; it was just when. And that’s the same way I feel about this group. We’ll be back on top in no time. I feel like the pieces are there and we just have to continue to grind and trust the process.

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