Everything James Franklin said about new Penn State offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki

Penn State will play in its second consecutive New Year’s Six Bowl on Dec. 30 when the 10th-ranked Nittany Lions travel to Atlanta for this year’s Peach Bowl against No. 11 Ole Miss.

The matchup features a Rebels offense that ranked 19th in the nation in scoring and 15th in total offense against a Penn State defense that finished third nationally in scoring and No. 1 in total defense.

On Sunday evening, both James Franklin and Lane Kiffin met with the media on Zoom to preview the matchup. Franklin then did a separate call with just the Penn State media to discuss other topics, most notably the recent hire of new offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki.

Nittany Lion fans can read Franklin’s complete transcript from that conference call below.

James Franklin’s Dec. 3 Conference Call

Q: Are you anticipating any opt-outs for the bowl game?

Franklin: Yeah, those things really kind of have not been decided. They’re ongoing conversations with parents and players and those types of things. Obviously, we’re always trying to create an environment and a situation where we have none, but we’ll see how that plays out.

Q: Do you plan on having Andy Kotelnicki coaching quarterbacks moving forward, and if not, who’s going to be coaching quarterbacks next season?

Franklin: That hasn’t totally been decided yet. We’ve had some initial conversations on how we think it’ll play out, but not at this time to make any type of announcement.

Q: With the transfer portal opening tomorrow for undergraduates, are there any areas in particular that you think you guys need to kind of zero in on or what may be some needs that you hope to address via the portal?

Franklin: The transfer portal is open tomorrow for us and legally, but for a lot of people it’s been open for a while, which is concerning. But yeah, we’ll look into its best players available. We’re trying to create the most competitive roster that we possibly can. Our players understand that. We told them that when we recruited them, whether it’s high school players or whether it’s transfer portal guys, we just want to create as much competition as we possibly can in the locker room and go from there. But that’s really what we’re looking for, the best players available and obviously, guys that are the best fits for our locker room and our campus and community.

Q: When you look at Andy Kotelnicki, what was the reason that made him the best fit for Penn State?

Franklin: A couple things. He’s a guy that I’ve known for a number of years. I’ve got a ton of respect for what they did at the University of Buffalo as well as what they did at Kansas, two places that it can be tough to win at and they were able to do it. I got a ton of respect for Lance Leipold, his head coach. Those two guys have been together for 11 years.

I did a lot of film study, did a lot of research. Him and Lance had come and visit us a couple of times, so we were able to develop a relationship over a period of time. 18 years of of offensive coordinator experience in terms of calling the plays. And then, obviously, the data. You look at the data and what they’ve been able to do with their players and with their roster, it’s been really good. Then, how I thought he would fit personality-wise with our players and staff.

Q: Obviously, it’s not the only consideration, but how firmly did [Kotelnicki] land on your radar after the Buffalo game and 2019 and the performance they had against you guys?

Franklin: Obviously, that was a long time ago. It was a small factor but not really much more than that. To be honest with you, that wasn’t a major factor. It’s really what they’ve been able to do and what all the data says and all the other things that we just discussed. It was a little bit, but not really.

Q: Six times in the last eight years you’ve finished in the Top 12. What does that mean to the program?

Franklin: Again, we have aspirations and expectations to do better, but there’s also only a very, very small handful of teams in the country that have done what we’ve done. I think there’s also a cool reality that I think with winning the Peach Bowl, I think we have a chance to be the only program in college football to win every New Year’s six bowl games. So that’s something that’s that’s exciting. Then, obviously, this is our first time in the Peach Bowl, in terms of Penn State. So, I’m excited about all those things, and I think there’s some pretty cool storylines for you guys to cover, specific to Penn State, and be excited about.

Q: You mentioned the word collaboration many times over the last few weeks. Why are you convinced that Andy will be collaborative when it comes to working with the rest of the staff?

Franklin: Just discussions that we’ve had. Me and Andy have talked, gosh, I don’t know how many times and for how many hours. I think one of the things I think was helpful for him, as well as for me, is that we felt like we were both being very transparent in what he was looking for and what I thought we needed. For him to leave a program and a guy that he’d been with for 11 years and had a very, very secure contract, he had to feel good about what he was joining and I needed to make sure and be thorough in what we were getting. I think the last two weeks of the season have shown we have a really good staff. Obviously, on defense and on special teams, but [also] on offense.

I thought our co-coordinators in Ja’Juan Seider and Ty Howle, as well as the rest of the offensive staff and GAs and analysts, did a really good job. I thought we played really well the last two weeks of the year, so I wanted to make sure that if we brought somebody in, that somebody was going to use those resources, that manpower, that experience that we had in the Lasch Building and take advantage of it. I also think that’s important to my guys, right? They want to feel like they have a voice. They want to feel like they have a say and that we can tap into their experience and their thoughts as well. So, [that was] something I thought was really important and obviously was magnified after the last two weeks and watching how we played and how well the staff worked together.

Q: That relationship between an OC and the quarterback room is so unique in the sport. What would you like to see them accomplish maybe this month of December together?

Franklin: Well, I think a couple things. I think number one, I think Andy, like he did at Kansas, is really going to approach this like the head coach of the offense. He’s had experience really coaching almost every position on offense and coordinating from every position on offense, which I think is also going to allow him to float, almost like an NFL coordinator in some ways. So we’ll see how that plays out.

Obviously, the last two weeks, Danny O’Brien and myself were coaching the quarterbacks and in all the quarterback meetings, so we’ll see how that plays out, but him developing relationships and him being able to get a feel for our players, our strengths, our weaknesses, get a feel for our staff, strengths and weaknesses, and for him to see how we operate, how we’re organized, what the culture is like, and build as many relationships with the players as possible, including the quarterbacks, I think it’s really important. So, this is a valuable time. I thought it was really valuable for how we did it with Manny. It allowed him and us to hit the ground running and we’re going to need to do that again.

Q: When it came to Andy, how would you describe the hiring process, working in conjunction with Penn State AD Pat Kraft?

Franklin: Yeah, I think [it was] very similar to what most programs across the country, that are our level, are like. [It was a] very similar style. I don’t know if it was that way in the past. But, this was a conversation with me and the people on my staff that I use to gain information and data to kind of help the process with me, especially the last two weeks of the season when I’m focused on finding a way to beat our last two opponents. And then, I’m a communicator in general, as you guys know, so I kept Pat and Vinnie [James] in the loop with what was going on. But they were they were great. They were they were supportive. I think we’ve gotten to know each other very well.

I think they understand how I operate, how thorough and how detailed we are with the things that we do. [It’s] very similar to how they operate, so that’s worked out well. And then, once we were ready to pull the trigger and make a decision, they were supportive in the areas that we needed them to be supportive, throughout campus and some of the hoops and hurdles you have to jump through and over to get those things done and be able to get those things done in a short period of time. So, I would probably describe it that we’re operating now at a level more consistently with the programs that work we should be competing with.