Penn State has found its new offensive coordinator.
Joe Moorhead, who's spent the past four seasons as the head coach at Fordham, joined James Franklin's coaching staff Saturday, replacing the fired John Donovan.
Moorhead had success at the FCS level, leading Fordham to three straight playoff appearances, totaling 32 wins in those three seasons. In four years, he posted a 38-13 record, winning 12 games in 2013 and 11 games in 2014.
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Prior to his head-coaching stint at Fordham, Moorhead worked as an assistant at Connecticut, Akron, Georgetown and Pitt. He served as offensive coordinator at Connecticut, Akron and Georgetown.
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"We are very excited to have Joe join our Penn State football family," Franklin said in the announcement. "He has distinguished himself as a head coach who made a dramatic impact at Fordham University. His approach and vision offensively is very similar to ours: hard-nosed, blue collar and explosive.
"We completed an exhaustive search of many candidates, and his name kept rising to the top. Many factors led to this decision. Joe's makeup as a person and leader is outstanding. He is originally from Pittsburgh and has strong relationships throughout Pennsylvania and the region. He brings invaluable perspective to our staff as a former head coach. Most importantly his offensive production as a coordinator and head coach speaks for itself."
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Moorhead's UConn offense ranked 57th in the FBS in 2009, averaging 387.2 yards per game. In 2010, it ranked 96th, averaging 325.8 yards per game.
He'll be tasked with turning around a Penn State offense that ranked 13th out of 14 Big Ten teams in total offense, averaging just 344 yards per game. And many expect that offense to be without experienced quarterback Christian Hackenberg, meaning in addition to improving a struggling offense, Moorhead will have to break in a new quarterback. Fortunately, the Nittany Lions do have a burgeoning star at running back in Saquon Barkley, who went over 1,000 yards rushing as a freshman this season.