Joe Moorhead Remains Great Fit as Penn State Football Offensive Coordinator

With Penn State Football looking for a new offensive coordinator, head coach James Franklin could re-hire Joe Moorhead, the team’s offensive coordinator in 2016 and 2017.

Moorhead left Penn State to become the head coach at Mississippi State.

After two years in Starksville, Moorehead became the offensive coordinator in Oregon. In Oregon, Moorehead rejuvenated his career, for two seasons as the offensive coordinator, ranking 42nd nationally in scoring both years (31.3and 31.4 points per game).

Moorehead became the head coach at Akron in 2022 and posted a 4-18 record at the Mid-American Conference school.

At Penn State, he’d get a chance to start anew and under a coach he is familiar with, along with a pay raise from the $620,000 he’s making at Akron.

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Under Moorhead, the Nittany Lions averaged 41.1 points per game and went 22-5.

Moorhead likes to run a no-huddle with 11 personnel (one back, no tight ends) and will mix some 12 personnel (one back and two tight ends). Moorehead likes to establish the run and one-on-one matchups for his receivers.

Moorhead wants his quarterbacks to complete 65% of their passes. Trace McSorley completed 66% of his passes at Penn State in 2017.

Meanwhile, Moorehead empowers his quarterbacks to change the play at the line of scrimmage if they see something they don’t like or feel another play is a better option. Therefore, the quarterback must understand defenses because he must make calls at the line of scrimmage.

Moorhead’s system features many run-pass options, with the quarterback making reads on the first, second, and third levels.

This offense could fit the Nittany Lions well; they have an excellent offensive line and strong running backs in Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen. They would need to get more out of Drew Allar and the receivers.

But, if hired, Moorehead could get the Penn State offense back on track.