Penn State has had an ‘accelerated’ process for installing the offense under new coordinator Mike Yurcich, coach James Franklin said.
                                 Mark Selders | Penn State Athletics

Penn State has had an ‘accelerated’ process for installing the offense under new coordinator Mike Yurcich, coach James Franklin said.

Mark Selders | Penn State Athletics

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<p>Quarterback Sean Clifford has been ‘impressive so far’ in spring practice according to Penn State coach James Franklin.</p>
                                 <p>Mark Selders | Penn State Athletics</p>

Quarterback Sean Clifford has been ‘impressive so far’ in spring practice according to Penn State coach James Franklin.

Mark Selders | Penn State Athletics

Add another title to Mike Yurcich’s resume at Penn State. Offensive coordinator. Quarterbacks coach. Mad scientist?

Now in his second week of spring practice with the Nittany Lions, Yurcich has already developed a reputation as someone willing to try out any play or any scheme to see if it might click with his personnel.

And James Franklin has been pleased so far.

“Getting him here, he’s what I thought,” the Penn State coach said Wednesday on a post-practice video call. “He’s an aggressive personality as a coach, he’s an aggressive personality as a play-caller. He has a proven track record of success. What he believes and who I would like to be stylistically, it aligns. He’s got almost a mad scientist way about him, which I like.”

Thanks to the pandemic, Franklin and the Lions didn’t get to work with the players in person last spring when they were breaking in new offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca.

Franklin jumped on the opportunity to bring in Yurcich this past January when he became available because of a coaching change at Texas. And he isn’t wasting any time in getting to work this spring.

“Mike wants to see more pressure early on,” Franklin said. “With that, (defensive coordinator Brent Pry) can get exotic. So we’ve been more aggressive from an installation standpoint. It’s been an accelerated model from what we’re used to.”

The spotlight, of course, will be on how Yurcich is able to mesh with starting quarterback Sean Clifford, who is coming off a rough 2020 season that was bogged down by turnovers.

Franklin said Clifford has “been impressive so far” while working with Yurcich.

“He’s just a vet. He’s a smart guy, asks really good questions,” Franklin said of Clifford, a fifth-year junior. “He’s had a lot of success and a lot of adversity — and with that comes maturity, comes wisdom, comes experience. He’s a guy that really wants to be good and really works at it both mentally and physically.

“I think coach Yurcich has been pretty impressed with him in terms of his ability to take information from the meetings and transfer it to the field.”

Falcon alums flying

Could the Lions have an all Lackawanna College safety tandem in 2021? If Ji’Ayir Brown keeps up his hot start to the spring, it’s a possibility.

Penn State is already set at one safety spot as Jaquan Brisker returns for a fifth season of eligibility after two years at Lackawanna and two with the Lions. He was a starter in 2020 and finished the year as one of the team’s top players on defense.

Fellow starter Lamont Wade opted to enter the NFL draft, opening up a job that Brown — who was a year behind Brisker at Lackawanna — is doing his best to earn after playing sparingly last fall.

“He’s had a really good spring,” Franklin said. “I think he’s leading us right now in turnovers. And he’s just more comfortable and much more confident, which we typically see in second-year players, whether you’re a second-year high school or a second-year junior college player.

“He’s an awesome young man, in general. He’s very appreciative of the opportunity, being here at Penn State. He’s kind of standing out right now.

Franklin also mentioned third-year freshman Tyler Rudolph and second-year freshman Enzo Jennings as two safeties the coaches are “excited about.”

Pro day on TV

With the pandemic preventing the NFL from holding its usual massive scouting combine in Indianapolis, individual schools’ pro days become more important for players.

Penn State’s time in the NFL scouting spotlight is set for Thursday with eight former Lions set to work out in front of teams to try and boost their stock. Six starters from the 2020 squad — TE Pat Freiermuth, OL Will Fries, OL Michal Menet, DE Jayson Oweh, DE Shaka Toney and Wade — will be joined by two starters from 2019 in LB Micah Parsons and OL Steven Gonzalez.

Big Ten Network will provide two hours of live coverage of the event beginning at 11 a.m. Penn State will also be providing more coverage online after 1 p.m. on the team’s Twitter and Facebook pages.

The draft is scheduled for April 29 through May 1 in Cleveland after being held virtually last spring. Parsons is in line to be the first Penn State defensive player to be selected in the first round since 2010.