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<p>James Franklin has added another head coach to his staff.</p><p>Penn State confirmed the hiring of Fordham coach Joe Moorhead as the Nittany Lions new offensive coordinator on Saturday evening.</p><p>&#8220;We are very excited to have Joe join our Penn State football family,&#8221; Franklin said in a release. &#8220;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.</p><p>&#8220;We completed an exhaustive search of many candidates and his name kept rising to the top.&#8221;</p><p>The 42-year-old Pittsburgh native will take over for John Donovan, who was fired the day after the Lions&#8217; regular season finale. Quarterbacks coach Ricky Rahne will call the plays for the upcoming TaxSlayer Bowl matchup against Georgia while Moorhead begins his transition and evaluates players.</p><p>&#8220;My family and I are thrilled to be coming home,&#8221; Moorhead said in a release. &#8220;It is an unbelievable opportunity to help contribute to a program with a rich tradition and promising future. I look forward to rolling up my sleeves and getting to work.&#8221;</p><p>Franklin had said last Sunday that he hoped to have a hire made in roughly a week so coaches and players alike could focus on bowl preparation as well as sit down and meet with the new coordinator.</p><p>Moorhead&#8217;s Pennsylvania roots were a major attraction for Franklin. He grew up in the Pittsburgh suburb of Penn Hills and attended Central Catholic High School, which has become a major recruiting battleground between Penn State and Pitt, as well as top programs like Ohio State and Notre Dame.</p><p>His background is similar to that of Penn State&#8217;s highly regarded defensive coordinator, Bob Shoop. A former head coach at Columbia, another FCS school in New York, Shoop is also a Pittsburgh native.</p><p>Moorhead, however, had far more success at Fordham, where he had previously played quarterback.</p><p>&#8220;Many factors led to this decision,&#8221; Franklin said. &#8220;Joe&#8217;s makeup as a person and leader is outstanding. He is originally from Pittsburgh and has strong relationships throughout Pennsylvania and the region.</p><p>&#8220;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.&#8221;</p><p>After inheriting a 1-10 team, Moorhead went 38-13 in four years in the Bronx, including a Patriot League championship in 2014 and three straight trips to the NCAA tournament.</p><p>In those three seasons, Fordham has had one of the top offenses in the country at the FCS level, averaging 487.6 and 38.3 points per game during that stretch. Moorhead received a contract extension through 2022 for his efforts last December.</p><p><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wm7Re_wsyGs?start=60" height="315" width="560"></iframe></p><p>Prior to that, Moorhead made a name for himself as Randy Edsall&#8217;s offensive coordinator at Connecticut, where he helped the Huskies win the former Big East and reach the Fiesta Bowl at the end of the 2010 season.</p><p>Edsall left for Maryland after that game and Moorhead stayed on at UConn for one more season as quarterbacks coach before returning to Fordham. Moorhead also served as an offensive coordinator at Akron and FCS Georgetown after beginning his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Pitt.</p><p>Though neither Franklin nor any of his assistants have worked with Moorhead in the past, there is a connection. Jim Pry, the father of Lions linebackers coach Brent Pry, worked with Moorhead in 2004 and 2005 at Akron.</p><p>When Jim Pry left to join Illinois&#8217; staff for the 2006 season, Moorhead was promoted to fill his role at offensive coordinator.</p><p>At Fordham, Moorhead&#8217;s offenses have typically run without a huddle from the shotgun and used plenty of read-option packages. That falls in line with what an offense with Trace McSorley at quarterback might look like should Christian Hackenberg declare for the NFL draft as expected.</p><p>It is not a scheme that de-emphasizes a standout running back like Saquon Barkley. Fordham&#8217;s best player has been Chase Edmonds, a two-time All-American who rushed for 1,648 yards and 20 touchdowns this season.</p><p>The public will likely have to wait until April&#8217;s Blue-White Game to get a look at the new offense, however.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s not like we&#8217;re going to put in a new system right before the bowl game,&#8221; Franklin said last week. &#8220;We&#8217;re going to try to keep things as normal as we possibly can.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Moorhead </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_moorhead-mug2015121215440133-2.jpg</photo0><caption0>Moorhead </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Derek Levarse</p><p>dlevarse@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div>

Penn State hires Fordham coach Joe Moorhead as offensive coordinator