Sean Clifford details his relationship with Kirk Ciarrocca

In any normal season, learning a new offense with a new coordinator at the Football Bowl Subdivision level is no easy task. This may not be professional football, but it’s pretty close. Offensive schemes in 2020 are complicated and heavy on details.

At least in 2016, when Joe Moorhead took over, Trace McSorley had spring practice to learn the basics. At least in 2016, he had all summer to throw to Chris Godwin, DaeSean Hamilton and DeAndre Thompkins. They had months to perfect that wheel route with Saquan Barkley.

That’s not going to be the case for Sean Clifford, Kirk Ciarrocca and the rest of Penn State’s offense this year. When they should’ve been studying film and learning the ins and outs together in Penn State’s updated team rooms, they were instead stuck at home with their parents like every other college-aged adult this past spring.

But like the leader that he is, Clifford also made it clear during Penn State’s virtual media days on Thursday that he has the right mindset for the task at hand.

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"We don't have much time, and we haven't had spring and the summer to develop the way that we wanted to,” said Clifford, who’s entering his second season as the starting quarterback for the Nittany Lions. “Obviously, I have trust and I've seen it on the field how hard everybody's been working away from the facility, but you know, football is a team game and you need to get everybody together and the chemistry needs to be there.

“So, we just need to keep grinding out these details day in, day out. Everyday, we talk about that 1-0 mentality, [and] that really takes precedent right now because we only have three or four weeks until this first game. …The details are critical."

One thing that hasn’t been impacted much by the pandemic is Clifford’s relationship with Ciarrocca. Throughout the spring, Zoom, FaceTime and other methods kept them in constant communication, and now that they’ve both been inside the Lasch Building for months, that bond has become even stronger.

“I think we connected right from the beginning,” Clifford said. “I think that he's a very easy person to talk to, especially when you're in the football facilities. We get along really well, solely just because, I mean, we both love the game. So, it's really easy to talk to him. I think that, you know, both of us are extremely hard workers, and so the minute that we had the chance to finally get going, I think that also just helped our relationship.

“But it keeps growing every day, on and off the field. I'm getting to know him in so many ways, and I think that he's just an outstanding coach so far. He's really changed my thought process on some things and made the game a lot easier for me. I'm excited to to put that product on the field coming up soon."

As for the actual offensive scheme that Penn State is implementing, Clifford said that if fans were expecting much razzle-dazzle, they’ll likely be disappointed. Instead, Nittany Nation should expect a “detail-oriented” offense that makes sure it does the little things correctly.

“When you watch the tape, I think that you see an offense that is very detail-oriented. You don't see a lot of amaze," he said. "When you get to know Coach Ciarrocca, you understand why. If he wants you to run your route at the third inside step, he wants you to run the route at third inside. If it's the second or fourth, then he's going to get on your ass. So I think that, coach has done a great job. I keep going back to the details, but that's kind of been the the name of the game with this offense right now is. Details are the most important thing.”

Now that October has arrived, the Nittany Lions have two-and-a-half weeks to work out any kinks before shifting their focus to game prep Oct. 18. In the meantime, Clifford said the goal is to progressively get a little bit better everyday.

“Approach every day the same. Get one percent better each day, and find something to improve on, because if you're not getting better, you're getting worse," said Clifford. "And that's something that I've learned from the day I stepped in here, but you know, Coach Ciarrocca really harps on the details and finding the littlest things to get better at. I think that that's something I've taken every day.”

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