Minnesota targeting familiar face to fill OC vacancy, per report

Minnesota needs an offensive coordinator, and a familiar face could be the first choice of the Gophers to fill the void.

According to Pete Thamel with Yahoo! Sports, Minnesota is targeting long-time PJ Fleck assistant Kirk Ciarrocca for the offensive coordinator role. Ciarrocca was previously the OC for Fleck at Western Michigan and with the Gophers.

During the 2021 season, Ciarrocca was an offensive analyst at West Virginia:

Sources: Minnesota has targeted Kirk Ciarrocca as the school’s new offensive coordinator. He worked as P.J. Fleck’s OC for seven combined seasons at Western Michigan and Minnesota. He was the OC for Minnesota’s 11-2 2019 season and worked last year as a West Virginia analyst.

— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) December 3, 2021

Ciarrocca joined Fleck when he took over as head coach at Western Michigan in 2013. Ciarrocca served as the OC for the Broncos from 2013-16 before taking the same job at Minnesota in 2017 under Fleck.

He was also a part of Minnesota’s 11-win season in 2019 and helped guide the Gophers to back-to-back bowl victories (2018-19). Ciarrocca left Minnesota after 2019 to be the OC for James Franklin at Penn State but lasted just one season.

While Ciarrocca’s tenure at Penn State was mired with a number of issues – including Journey Brown’s medical retirement and the issues brought on by the COVID pandemic – it would not be surprising to see him back in Minneapolis. Stay tuned.