Mike Yurcich enters his second season at Shippensburg University as its offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach after a record-setting 2011 in his debut at the helm of the Raider offense.
The Red Raider offense did major damage on the school record books in 2011 after the installation of Yurcich’s successful passing game. In total, the Raiders set five offensive single-season school records: 411 points, 55 total touchdowns, 898 total plays, 281 first downs and 5,124 yards of total offense.
The first down mark also led the NCAA, with a 25.5 per game average. The Raiders were also ninth in the nation in total offense (465.82 yards per game) and 14th in scoring offense (37.36 points per game). SU also finished the regular season second in the PSAC in scoring (37.4 points per game) and total offense (464 yards per game).
In its seven victories, Shippensburg scored at least 40 points and outscored its opponents by a 327-94 margin to boast an average victory of 33.2 points. Its highest point total of the year came against Cheyney, when the offense posted 59 points as Yurcich’s pupil, first-year starting quarterback Zach Zulli, set a single-game school record with six touchdown passes.
Zulli thrived under the new offensive attack and finished the year setting single-season records of 226 completions and 34 passing touchdowns while his 2,741 passing yards were good for second-most in single-season school history (just 91 yards short of the record set by Chris Gicking in 1999). Backup quarterback Steven Adams and wide receiver Trevor Harman also threw touchdowns during the season, giving the Raiders 36 total which set another school record for a single year.
Under Yurcich’s guidance, Zulli spread the ball around evenly to several different receivers. Five different players caught at least 30 passes while four totaled at least 400 yards receiving. Harman led the group with 43 catches for 681 yards and nine touchdowns. Jacob Baskerville had 486 yards and five scores while Bryan Barley finished with 473 yards and six touchdowns. Mike Frenette, meanwhile, caught 40 balls out of the backfield which surpassed the single-season school record for receptions by a running back.
Frenette became a playmaker all over the field in Yurcich’s offense, running for a career-high 931 yards (the most by an SU running back since 2004) while totaling 404 receiving yards and leading the team with 12 total touchdowns. Zulli finished the regular season ranked 12th in the NCAA in total offense, with 282.27 yards per game.
Before coming to Shippensburg, Yurcich spent the previous six seasons (2005-10) at Edinboro University as its quarterbacks coach and spent the final five years of his tenure as the offensive coordinator.
While at Edinboro, Yurcich helped spearhead an offense that had significant success in the passing game. A lot of that production was guided on the field by multiple All-American quarterback Trevor Harris, a four-time All-PSAC West selection who signed a free agent contract with the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars and who now plays for the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League (CFL).
Yurcich was a valuable mentor and instructor to Harris, who surpassed virtually every passing record in Edinboro University history while setting PSAC records for career completions and completion percentage.
Edinboro had back-to-back nine win seasons in 2008 and 2009. The Fighting Scots advanced to the 2009 NCAA Division II football playoffs where they competed in a memorable game against West Liberty in which Harris set a Division II playoff record with 630 passing yards.
The Fighting Scots averaged at least 30 points per game from 2007-09 and consistently ranked among Division II’s top offenses. Among PSAC rankings, Edinboro was one of the top two offenses from a statistical standpoint in all three of those seasons – leading the league in 2008.
Specifically, the Edinboro passing game thrived under Yurcich’s direction. The 2008 and 2009 Fighting Scots led the PSAC in passing offense, while the 2009 squad ranked 17th in Division II. In 2007, the Fighting Scots ranked eighth in Division II for passing offense, 18th in total offense and 25th in scoring offense.
Following the departure of Trevor Harris, Yurcich worked in 2010 with redshirt freshman quarterback Cody Harris. Despite his status as a rookie, Harris led the PSAC in completion percentage (65.7) and threw the fewest interceptions (5) of any signal caller in the league.
Yurcich also provided valuable instruction to Edinboro’s wide receivers. Among his former athletes at the position is Ryan Valasek, who set a school record with 64 receptions in 2006 and was named to the All-PSAC Western Division First Team squad for his efforts.
A 1999 graduate of California University of Pennsylvania, Yurcich was a three-year regular at quarterback with the Vulcans. He was a two-year captain at Cal and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. Before his arrival in western Pennsylvania, Yurcich spent two seasons at Mount Union College playing for legendary coach Larry Kehres.
After California, Yurcich received a master’s degree in education from Saint Francis (IN) in 2002, where he earned a school counseling license. During his time at Saint Francis he was an assistant coach that helped the Cougars win four consecutive Mid-States Football Association Mid-East League Championships and compile a 38-8 record during his four-year tenure.
With Saint Francis, Yurcich was the running backs coach in 1999 before working with the quarterbacks in 2000 and 2001. He served as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2002, a season that Saint Francis boasted the nation’s top offense among NAIA schools averaging 530 yards per game. Yurcich also served as the junior varsity head coach from 2000-02.
His coaching career also includes two years as an offensive graduate assistant at Indiana University. With the Hoosiers, Yurcich coached the wide receivers while working as a quality control assistant.
A native of Euclid, Ohio, Yurcich is married to former Edinboro cross country All-American Julie Nemergut. They are the proud parents of two sons — Jack and Clay.
PERSONAL
Alma Mater: California (Pa.) ’99 / Saint Francis (MI) ‘02M
Family: Wife, Julie; Sons, Jack and Clay
Years in Coaching: 13
COACHING EXPERIENCE
Shippensburg University
2011-present Assistant Coach/Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks
Edinboro University
2006-10 Assistant Coach/Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks/Wide Receivers
2005 Assistant Coach/Quarterbacks/Wide Receivers
Indiana University (Bloomington)
2003-04 Offensive Graduate Assistant/Wide Receivers
Saint Francis University (Indiana)
2002 Assistant Coach/Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks/JV Coach
2000-01 Assistant Coach/Quarterbacks/JV Coach
1999 Assistant Coach/Running Backs
