Nittany Lions name Ricky Rahne offensive coordinator

Penn State stayed in-house to replace offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead, promoting Ricky Rahne on Friday afternoon.

Rahne previously coached quarterbacks and tight ends while acting as the passing game coordinator for head coach James Franklin. Rahne joined Franklin's staff at Vanderbilt in 2011 and has been with him since then.

"Ricky is one of the rising stars in college football," Franklin said in a news release. "He is extremely sharp, driven and has a great rapport with our players. He has been very involved in our offensive scheme the last two years, which is why I anticipate our offense will continue to thrive under Ricky."

Rahne takes over for Moorhead, who overhauled the Penn State offense during the past two seasons -- turning the Nittany Lions into one of the Big Ten's most productive teams -- before accepting the head-coaching position at Mississippi State earlier this week.

Moorhead also took former Penn State running backs coach Charles Huff to Starkville with him to lead the Bulldogs' running game.

To fill vacancies on his staff, Franklin hired Tyler Bowen to coach the tight ends and Phil Galiano to serve as a special-teams coach and work with the defensive line. Bowen coached Maryland's offensive line during the 2017 season and previously worked as a graduate assistant at Penn State. Galiano, who has coached in the NFL and college football, worked as a defensive specialist in a non-coaching position at Penn State this past season.

Matt Limegrover and Josh Gattis will help Rahne in his transition to running the offense. Limegrover, the Nittany Lions' offensive line coach, added running game coordinator to his title with this shift. Gattis is now the team's passing game coordinator in addition to the wide receivers coach.

"Josh and Matt have played vital roles in our offensive success and I am excited to see how we evolve in their new roles," Franklin said. "Josh has brought tremendous insight into our passing game on a weekly basis as he has continued to develop our wide receiving corps into one of the best in the country. Upon his arrival, Matt made an immediate impact on the guys in the offensive line room and we have a very bright future in the trenches with him at the helm."