According to Pete Thamel of ESPN, Rutgers Football's search for their next offensive coordinator is coming to an end as the program is expected to hire Minnesota Offensive Coordinator / Quarterbacks coach Kirk Ciarrocca as the Scarlet Knights next offensive play caller.
Ciarrocca is a Temple alumni and Lewisberry, Pennsylvania native, who comes to Piscataway after one year at Minnesota, where his offense averaged 28.2 points per game this past season.
The 57-year old assistant coach is a familiar name to Rutgers fans as he was the program's wide receiver coach in 2008 before being promoted to Co-OC / QBs coach the following year alongside fellow Co-OC Kyle Flood. During those two years as the main play caller for the Scarlet Knights, the team averaged 28.8ppg in 2009 and 20.8ppg in 2010 which eventually led to him being let go by the program.
The good news is that it seems that he has adapted since then and worked his way back up the coaching ranks, as he went from the FCS level (Richmond, Delaware) back to the FBS level where he coached several top ranked offenses over the past few years including 2015 Western Michigan (36.0ppg), 2016 Western Michigan (41.6ppg) and 2019 Minnesota (34.1ppg).
Along with all that, Ciarrocca and his family are very familiar with Rutgers as his daughter Colby played several season for the Rutgers women's soccer team.
PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE....
1990-91: Temple (GA)
1992: Western Connecticut State (PGC/WR)
1993: Delaware Valley (PGC/WR)
1994-95: Western Connecticut State (OC/QB/WR)
1996-99: Princeton (WR)
2000-01: Penn (WR)
2002-07: Delaware (OC/QB)
2008-10: Rutgers (co-OC/QB)
2011: Richmond (QB)
2012: Delaware (RB)
2013-16: Western Michigan (OC/QB)
2017-19: Minnesota (OC/QB)
2020: Penn State (OC/QB)
2021: West Virginia (OA)
2022-PRESENT: Minnesota (OC/QB)
FULL COACHING BIO VIA MINNESOTA ATHLETICS
To learn more about Ciarrocca's past and his coaching resume, you can check out his full coaching bio below or click the link here to Gophersports.com
Kirk Ciarrocca (shuh-ROCK-uh) was named offensive coordinator / quarterbacks coach at the University of Minnesota on Dec. 6, 2021. This is Ciarrocca's second coaching stint at Minnesota, as he held the same position from 2017-19.
Ciarrocca returns to the Twin Cities after being away for two years. He spent the 2020 season as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Penn State and served in a non-coaching role as an offensive analyst at West Virginia during the 2021 season.
In addition to previously working with Minnesota head coach P.J. Fleck at Minnesota, Ciarrocca was also Fleck’s offensive coordinator at Western Michigan for four seasons. He has spent seven total seasons as an offensive coordinator under Coach Fleck and helped both schools produce record-setting numbers on offense.
Ciarrocca coordinated some of the best offenses in Minnesota’s history during his first stint in Maroon and Gold.
In 2019, the Gophers averaged 432 yards per game (fourth most in school history in the modern era) and 34.1 points per game (third most in school history in the modern era). That same year, Minnesota rushed for 25 touchdowns and threw for 31 touchdowns, which was the first time in school history that the Gophers reached both of those numbers in the same season.
Ciarrocca was named one of 15 semifinalists for the Broyles Award in 2019 (presented annually to the best assistant coach in college football) as Minnesota joined LSU and Alabama and the only schools in the nation to produce two 1,000-yard receivers (Tyler Johnson and Rashod Bateman) and a 1,000-yard rusher (Rodney Smith).
He also coached quarterback Tanner Morgan, who set school single-season records in passing yards (3,253), touchdown passes (30), completion percentage (66.0%), passing yards per game (250.2), touchdown-interception ratio (4.28) and passing efficiency rating (178.7). Morgan would be named All-Big Ten Second Team and was a finalist for The Manning Award and a semifinalist for the Davey O’Brien Award.
The Gophers combined to pass for 51 touchdowns from 2018-2019, which is the most in school history in a two-year span. Minnesota scored 105 total touchdowns in 26 games during those two-years, which was the most since it scored 106 in 25 games from 2005-06. In addition, Minnesota punted only 93 times during the two-year stretch, which was the fewest since it also punted 93 times in 2005-06.
Ciarrocca spent the 2020 season at Penn State, which was drastically affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. Despite the irregularities of the season, Ciarrocca led one of the most balanced and efficient offenses in the Big Ten. The Nittany Lions ranked second in the conference in total offense (430.3 yards per game), third in scoring (29.8 points per game), fourth in passing (256.0 yards per game) and fifth in rushing (174.3 yards per game).
In 2017, Ciarrocca's Minnesota offense was led by the most inexperienced quarterback group in the country, but still posted impressive numbers. The Gophers averaged 22.1 points per game, which was the fifth-most under a first-year Gopher head coach since 1900.
The Minnesota offense scored 54 points in a win against Nebraska and 48 points in a victory at Oregon State. The 54 points were the most that the Gophers scored in a Big Ten game since they beat Indiana 63-26 in 2006 and were the 14th most scored by Minnesota since 1946. The 48 points at were the most the Gophers scored on the road since they beat Northwestern 49-21 in 1980.
Ciarrocca first came to Minnesota in 2017 after serving as the offensive coordinator at Western Michigan since 2013-16. The Broncos thrived under Ciarrocca in 2016, as they averaged 41.57 points per game (ninth most in the nation) and set program records in points (582), total yards (6,737) and touchdowns (75). This came after setting records in the same categories in 2015.
In 2016, Western Michigan had the nation’s 25th-ranked rushing offense, 49th-ranked passing offense and had the fewest turnovers in the country with eight.
Ciarrocca’s offense included MAC Offensive Player of the Year and NCAA Consensus All-American Corey Davis at wide receiver. Joining Davis as an All-MAC First Team selection were offensive linemen Taylor Moton and Chukwuma Okorafor. His offense also included All-MAC Second Team honorees quarterback Zach Terrell, running back Jarvion Franklin and offensive lineman John Keenoy. Tight end Donnie Ernsberger was a third team selection.
Ciarrocca also coached the quarterbacks and mentored Terrell, who ended his career as the William V. Campbell Trophy winner after not having any Power Five program offers out of high school. In 2016, Terrell passed for 33 touchdowns and threw only four interceptions.
In 2015, Terrell finished the season ranked seventh in the country and second in the MAC in quarterback efficiency with a mark of 162.3. In 2015, he coached a dynamic running game led by Jamauri Bogan who was named the MAC Freshman of the Year and 2015 Popeyes Bahamas Bowl MVP after amassing 215 yards and four touchdowns. For the year, Bogan finished with 1,053 yards and two touchdowns. It was the first time since 2008-09 that Western Michigan had 1,000-yard rushers in back-to-back seasons after Jarvion Franklin totaled 1,551 yards in 2014.
Ciarrocca’s offense also featured the most prolific receiving duo in the country since 2002. The duo of Daniel Braverman and Davis were the first receiving duo since 2002 to catch more than 1,400 and 1,300 yards in the same year (Davis recorded 1,436 yards, while Braverman had 1,371). Braverman and Davis were each named to the All-MAC team in 2015. Braverman finished second in the FBS nationally in receptions (108), eighth in receiving yards (1,371) and eighth in receiving touchdowns (12). Davis was fifth in the country in receiving yards (1,436) and receiving touchdowns (13), while finishing 12th in receptions (90). Adding in Bogan’s 1,051 yards, Western Michigan became the first FBS team since 2001 to have a duo of 1,400 and 1,300 yard receivers to go along with a 1,000 yard rusher.
Ciarrocca, a graduate of Temple University, brings more than 25 years of coaching experience to Minnesota. He was instrumental in the development of Super Bowl winning quarterback Joe Flacco during his six seasons (2002-07) at the University of Delaware and was a member of the 2003 National Championship staff.
Ciarrocca's Blue Hen 2007 offense ranked in the top 10 nationally in scoring, total offense, passing offense, third down conversion and red-zone scoring. He had a pair of quarterbacks drafted into the NFL during his first stint with the Blue Hens.
Ciarrocca's coaching career began at his alma mater, Temple, where he assisted the offensive staff and served as the on-campus recruiting coordinator from 1990-91. He stayed on the East Coast, working with Western Connecticut State as the passing game coordinator in 1992, at Delaware Valley College, also as the passing game coordinator and quarterbacks and receivers coach in 1993. He returned to Western Connecticut as the offensive coordinator for two seasons before heading to coach in the Ivy League for seven seasons. He first coached the wide receivers at Princeton from 1996-99 and then did the same at the University of Pennsylvania from 2000-02 where the Quakers boasted the top ranked passing offense and claimed the 2000 Ivy League championship.
Ciarrocca worked with Fleck during his time at Rutgers when he was the co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.
He also coached the quarterbacks at Richmond in 2011 before returning to Delaware to coach the running backs in 2012.
Ciarrocca and his wife Kim have a daughter, Colby, and a son, Cade.
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