As Penn State looks to rejuvenate its dreadful offense, James Franklin is adding one of the top coaches at the FCS level to the staff to take on the role of offensive coordinator. Fordham head coach Joe Moorhead, according to multiple reports Saturday, will be the new offensive coordinator at Penn State.
Moorhead managed to build a national power at the FCS level with Fordham, which had gone just 1-11 the year prior to his hiring by the university. Fordham has been one of the top teams in the Patriot League at the FCS level and a top 25 quality program under Moorhead. Fordham ranked 19th in the nation in total offense among FCS schools and the Rams have been known to score points at will on opponents at times. Fordham has been in the FCS playoffs each of the past three seasons.
Franklin made it clear he wanted to bring in an offensive coordinator to replace fired John Donovan that had previous experience calling plays. Moorhead satisfies that qualification as a head coach at Fordham as well as two seasons as the offensive coordinator at UConn in 2009 and 2010.
Penn State’s offense has plenty of room for improvement. the Nittany Lions ranked 106th in the nation in total offense, 106th in rushing offense, 82nd in passing offense, 126th in third-down conversion percentage and 118th in sacks allowed. The thing is, there is some talent on the offense to work with freshman running back Saquon Barkley, a nice stable of receivers and tight ends and quarterback Christian Hackenberg if he ends up shocking the world and sticks around for one more season in Happy Valley. If, as expected, Hackenberg does move on, Penn State will be getting to work with incoming freshman Jake Zembiec, an early-enrollee confirmed by Penn State on Friday.