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“This Hire Is Probably His Last Crack”: NFL Veterans Sound Off on Penn State’s Future Moves Following Mike Yurcich’s Dismissal

Published 11/16/2023, 8:45 PM EST

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Second time in the NCAA this season, an OC was fired. First Deion Sanders dismissed Sean Lewis, and now the case has been reiterated by the Nittany Lions‘ HC, James Franklin. He recently fired his offensive coordinator, Mike Yurcich. This decision reportedly came about after the team’s loss to Michigan. The Nittany Lions struggled to score points on the offensive side of the ball during the match.

This disappointed Franklin deeply because Yurcich had been with the team for five years and had two big games to show results in. However, recently the offense has been underperforming. It does not seem like HC Franklin had any other choice. The stars of ‘The Pocket’, former Nittany Lions Michael D. Mauti, Christian Hackenberg and Brandon Bell, had solid points to share about it.

The Pocket on the firing of Mike Yurcich

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Regarding the firing, Christian Hackenberg proposed, “Realistically speaking, I think when you’re when you’re sitting in Coach Franklin’s shoes… As long as he’s been here, I think he was planning for these types of things because I do want to say this: I think that this next hire, I think, is his last crack at this. Uh, and I’m gonna paint the bigger picture right because I think that there’s a lot of dynamics that go into this but I think that this hire is probably his last crack.”

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They discussed coach Franklin’s massive contract extension, and how given last year’s performance, it felt deserved at the time, but now doesn’t feel so. The Pocket hosts were actually in support of HC Franklin. And it is justifiable because anyone would expect solid results from anyone they hire. The Nittany Lions could not perform well, and so the OC was fired. But was that the only reason?

Reasons behind Yurcich’s firing

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The Penn State Nittany Lions only managed to get 238 yards of offеnsе in thе loss to Michigan, with 75 of thosе yards coming on a last-sеcond scoring drivе whеn thе gamе was alrеady dеcidеd. Throughout thе sеason, Jamеs Franklin convеyеd his disdain for thе offеnsе, implying that thеy nееdеd to do a bеttеr task of calling gamеs and allowing thе quartеrback to gеt into a rhythm.

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Whеn Yurcich arrivеd at Pеnn Statе, thеrе was rеassurancе that Franklin had found thе idеal individual for thе job, givеn Yurcich’s previous succеss at Tеxas, Ohio Statе, and Oklahoma Statе. Yurcich’s opеration, on thе othеr hand, fеll short of еxpеctations, and thе tеam’s offеnsе gеnеratеd undеsirablе outcomеs.

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Regardless of whether the firing was right or not, as stated in the video, this just might be Coach Franklin’s last effort to save his future with the team and get the team to a respectable future. Who do you think he should look to for this position?

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Written by:

Sadafreen Ahmed

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“Never change who you are, and be the best you can be.” I am an NFL writer who celebrates each touchdown and fumble along the way. Writing for EssentiallySports, I love transforming the rhythms of the gridiron into compelling stories of players like Patrick Mahomes and legends like Tom Brady and Deion Sanders.
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Edited by:

Harshita