Andy Kotelnicki officially hired as Penn State offensive coordinator — 3 things to know
Penn State has made it official, with Andy Kotelnicki being named the Nittany Lions’ new offensive coordinator.
Kotelnicki, the Kansas offensive coordinator, was hired by Penn State head coach James Franklin after former OC Mike Yurcich was fired in mid-November.
Here are three things to know about the new coordinator.
Ties to Lance Leipold
There aren’t many better coaches to have been associated with over the last decade than the one Kotelnicki has been alongside. Kansas head coach Lance Leipold was a wildly successful Division III head coach at Wisconsin-Whitewater — where Kotelnicki was the OC in 2013 and 2014 — before jumping to the Division I level where he found success at Buffalo, again with Kotelnicki as his offensive coordinator. Leipold then took over Kansas before the 2021 season — a program that has struggled mightily to find success — and led the Jayhawks to a bowl game in his second year, followed by eight wins this season.
Leipold has been a program builder and Kotelnicki being his choice for offensive coordinator is a good indication for how well thought of the offensive coordinator is. Franklin has mentioned his desire to have a head coach of each unit — offense, defense and special teams — and while Kotelnicki hasn’t been a head coach, he has learned under one of the most successful ones in the country.
Success with multiple styles
One thing that Kotelnicki has proven in his time as an offensive coordinator is that there’s more than one way to have a successful offense. During his time at Buffalo, where he was the offensive coordinator from 2015-2020, he had Tyree Jackson at quarterback — who went on to the NFL where he plays tight end — from 2016-2018 and was able to put together a productive offense with different plans of attack. Jackson ran the ball 99 times in 2016 and then only ran it 102 times combined in the ensuing two years, with the difference in passing attempts between 2016 and 2018 being 96 more in the latter. Essentially, Kotelnicki transformed the offense to rely less on the quarterback running game as the signal caller developed as a passer. While his primary Kansas quarterbacks — starter Jalon Daniels and backup Jason Bean — excelled as runners, and Kotelnicki used them in that way, he’s also shown he can create a highly productive offense with excellent passers, like Drew Allar.
Producing elite college running backs
If there’s one area Kotelnicki should immediately give a boost to, it’s running back. He was the offensive coordinator at Buffalo when Jaret Patterson was there, and maximized the 5-foot-8, 195-pound back. Patterson ran for 3,844 yards in only 32 games with the Bulls, tearing apart defenses game after game. Kotelnicki was able to get him into space and get him going downfield in an offense that didn’t have great quarterback talent in his final two years with the Bulls. This season, Kansas had Devin Neal run for 1,209 yards on only 183 attempts and Daniel Hishaw Jr. run for 599 yards on 116 attempts. He’ll have the most talented running back room of his career in his first year at Penn State with Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen, and there may not have been a better hire to get high-level production out of both backs next season.
This story was originally published December 1, 2023 at 1:48 PM.
