Photo Attribution: US Presswire
Who is Mike Yurcich?
The question we’ve all been asking since about 10 AM this morning.
I reached out to Duane Rankin who used to cover Edinboro (where Yurcich was before Shippensburg) football for GoErie.com. Duane now works for the Montgomery Advertiser and was kind enough to answer my questions…
1. Why is this a good hire for OSU?
You’re looking at someone who has had a Division I offense all along, but has worked out the kinks of it on the Division II level. So he already has an idea of what works and what doesn’t.
Plus he was given the keys to the offense while at Edinboro and Shippensburg. So he’s used to be the one to answer why the offense didn’t work or did work.
2. What is Mike Yurcich’s personality like? Any eccentricities?
He’s pretty laid back, but he can get after it. Subtle, but has a sense of humor. He’ll may be a little on guard to start just because he’s at a new level, but he’ll adjust to all that comes with being an OC at Big 12 school.
3. One word to describe his offense?
Explosive
4. Who are his coaching idols? Who does he model his offensive style after?
I’m not sure who his coaching idols are to be honest, but his offense is single back with multiple receivers. He coached two of the best Division I quarterbacks – Trevor Harris (Edinboro) and Zach Zulli (Shippensburg) – ever.
When he coached Harris, Harris had the freedom to run no huddle and call plays at the line. The offense was high paced, quick passes, but it had the ability to go downfield and utilize the running game.
5. Any funny/good stories?
Don’t remember too many stories, but he always laid back in his office. You would never even know he was in the office because you never heard him. You’d hear other assistants and the head coach, but not him.
So…just like Monken, right?
He didn’t comment on the Star Wars Legos? That’s too bad!
Sounds like he’s about to expand his horizons with RB’s.
But we he run the f/u flea flicker
Will he
This is part of OSU culture now, and I assume it will be addressed in his contract. If we’re up by 30 or more in the 4th quarter, he will be contractually obligated to attempt the f—you-flicker (that name has been staring us in the face for 3 years, come on guys)
Does “single back offense with multiple wide receivers” mean we’ll be taking a more under center approach? Or does that just mean one back in the shotgun/pistol formations?
Gundy said he’ll be running OSU’s offense, not the other way around. We run primarily shotgun formations. I don’t foresee any big changes coming. Maybe small tweaks with the largest differentiation being in which play is called and when.
Pretty excited about this guy! He seems really down to earth and definitely the type that is going to be hungry enough to want make a name for himself.
We won’t know till we know, but it sure looks like Gundy has again found a square peg to go in the square hole…based on what we’re hearing about Coach Yurcick, he’s going to step on campus already familiar with no-huddle-air-raid-rock-and-roll offense; he’s not going to flinch with the f-u-flicker….and coming in from DII, I’d almost bet he’s got some seriously crazy stuff that you see more often at DII that could provide some really fun entertainment should next year we find ourselves up say, 40-0 over the Sooners and looking for something a little…..different…..LOL
Yurchich looks like a great wheel man for Gundy’s race car. Great hire and great timing. He didn’t want to scare away any of the top recruits with his D2 hire.
Also love the chatter from the “elite” Big 12 fans. “Yurchich was playing in DII for a reason.” blah blah…
While this guy comes from outside the “Box” being a Division II coach the upside is that he will also think outside the box and bring some new and innovative idea’s to tweak the Cowboy spread. Holgerson is a great offensive coach….Monken came in and I think made the offense even better…..and Mike seems to me will bring something more to the offense…. OSU offense in 2013 has all the pieces back from last year….and they were terrific. I can only imagine how much better they should be in 2013….my only concern is running back as I wish Randle was back…but who knows?
Defense has been the Cowboy weakness these past couple of years…blame that on emphasis in offensive player recruiting and possibly coaching. That is changing…Gundy has bulked up on the defensive front and we now have some great tackles…coaching changes should help too which I think the philosophy on playing DB will now call for closer coverage. Pass play defense needs to step up. With a good improvement in defense OSU should take the Big 12 and perhaps more. No I am not a OU cheer leader type who makes crazy predictions of a National Championship….but will wait till OSU proves itself and who it is no the field this fall.