Future Penn State quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer discusses Mike Yurcich firing and his commitment to the Nittany Lions

There’s been a lot of talk this week about Penn State head coach James Franklin’s decision to fire offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich. Naturally, most of that discussion has surrounded the current quarterbacks on the roster, most notably Drew Allar and his development moving forward.

But Yurcich also played a big role in Penn State landing one of the Class of 2024’s top quarterbacks, too, in Ohio native Ethan Grunkemeyer. When he earned an offer from the Nittany Lions back in March, Grunkemeyer had just a handful of Power Five offers at the time.

After committing to Penn State in May, Grunkemeyer showed everyone just how good he is this past summer, impressing scouts at every camp he attended. That ultimately led to an Elite 11 Finals invitation where he ended up finishing third in On3’s top performer list.

Now, Grunkemeyer is not only a consensus four-star prospect on each of the four major recruiting sites but also ranked eighth overall at the quarterback position according to On3’s Industry Ranking. All of that is a long way in saying that he’s incredibly important for Penn State’s program moving forward.

To get a better feel for where Grunkemeyer now stands, I caught up with him Friday morning to discuss the coaching change, his talks with the staff since and where he stands moving forward.

Q&A with Penn State quarterback commit Ethan Grunkemeyer

Ryan Snyder: What were your initial thoughts on Yurcich being let go? How did you learn about everything on Sunday?

Ethan Grunkemeyer: It definitely kind of came as a surprise. I got on the phone with Coach [Danny] O’Brien and Coach Franklin not long after it happened but before the news dropped. They explained the whole process to me and what all is going to happen moving forward. They were checking to make sure that I still felt comfortable with everything and just trying to make sure we’re still good moving forward.

I told them right away that I’m still comfortable with them and that I’m committed to the program, Coach Franklin and the rest of the people there. So, there wasn’t too much change going on. I don’t see anything ever really changing between me and them. I still love Penn State and want to be there.

Snyder: Since Sunday, what have you guys been talking about? Has there been more communication, the same as normal? Just curious to know if anything has been different about this past week.

Grunkemeyer: I wouldn’t say much has been different. After the first initial conversations, they said if I have any concerns, reach out. But everything has been normal with Coach Franklin and Danny and their whole staff. So, we’re just moving forward and keep building our relationship.

Honestly, most of our talks have been about wrapping up my season and my film. We were talking about maybe coming up for the game this weekend or sometime after that in the next couple of weeks. It’s really been all of our normal communication. But I’m thinking about maybe coming up this weekend. I’m not entirely sure yet.

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Snyder: How important has Danny O’Brien been in all of this? I know you’ve communicated with him a lot. Everyone expects him to be in that quarterback room still moving forward, no matter who the new offensive coordinator is.

Grunkemeyer: He’s been one of my main communicators throughout my entire recruitment. I definitely feel comfortable with him being the quarterback coach, as of right now, and him still being in the room. But that’s another big thing, for sure, just knowing he’s still going to be there.

Snyder: I assume other schools were reaching out to you this week. I’m not going to press you on which schools, but I assume some coaches were texting you, seeing where you stood this week. Is that fair to assume?

Grunkemeyer: Any text I got this week, I just responded by saying that I’m still locked in with Penn State. I said that I appreciate them reaching out and whatnot, but I’m keeping my word with them and I’m still 100 percent locked in. I’m happy with where I’m at right now and always want to stick with my word which I made back in the summer. But that’s how I handled it with everyone.

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Snyder: Did a lot of schools reach out? Any idea how many?

Grunkemeyer: It wasn’t a ton. A lot of schools already have their commits. So, I couldn’t really give you an exact number, but it was the same thing to all of them. I’m locked in.

Snyder: Let’s switch to your senior season. I know last weekend was a bummer with you guys getting knocked out, but you had an excellent senior year. You led Olentangy to its best season in about a decade. What did you take away from this year?

Grunkemeyer: I thought we had a super-talented team coming into the year. I didn’t want to make any expectations coming into the year. Obviously, you’re always shooting for 10-0 going into the playoffs. Most importantly, looking back, the relationships I built with all my guys has been awesome and something I’ll take with me for the rest of my life. I’m super thankful for all of those guys making this a special senior season with how it all went. I wish we were still playing, but now I get to start training before I get on campus here soon.

Snyder: Are there any areas of your game where you felt you made big improvements this year? When you compare your senior season to your junior year, where do you think you made the biggest strides?

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Grunkemeyer: Definitely staying more calm in the pocket was huge. I felt like when I was under pressure, I wasn’t trying to get out of the pocket so quickly. Instead, I was stepping up and making some big-time throws. I thought that’s something I definitely improved on this year. Just my overall comfort in the pocket. I’m super happy with how I improved there. I’m still growing and improving and learning. It’s all a process, but I felt like I improved a lot there.

Snyder: You have about two months now until you enroll. What’s the plan moving forward? I assume you’ll be working with Brad [Maendler] over the next couple of weeks.

Grunkemeyer: I took this week off from throwing, but I started working out again on Monday and I’m getting back into full-swing with that. I’ll be working out five or six times a week. I plan to work with Brad at least once or twice a week starting this weekend. I’ll also be getting ready for the Under Armour All-American Bowl. Once I head out to that, it pretty much just rolls right into enrolling and getting to work with those guys.

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