Why did Penn State hire Andy Kotelnicki to be its next offensive coordinator?
Penn State coach James Franklin spoke for the first time on Sunday about hiring Andy Kotelnicki to be hi is next offensive coordinator.
“He’s a guy that I’ve known for a number of years,” Franklin said. “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.
Meet new Penn State offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki
Kotelnicki has spent much of his coaching life with current Jayhawks head coach Lance Leipold. They were together at Division-II powerhouse Wisconsin-Whitewater for two seasons. Before that, they spent six together at Buffalo. Then, they both went to Kansas for the past two seasons.
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Franklin sought to bring someone with experience directing an offense that was explosive, successful with a variety of different personnel and talent, and that is capable of fitting what Penn State currently has on its roster. Koltelnicki has had success at multiple levels. He has been an offensive coordinator since 2006 after playing center at Wisconsin-River Falls. He morphed his offense in 2021 to fit Kansas star quarterback Jalon Daniels. It helped his candidacy for the Broyles Award, which he was nominated for in 2022.
“The defense will never know what formation we’re in pre-snap,” Daniels told reporters this year. “They’ll never know how we’re going to end up for real. Because of how much stuff and how much detail Coach K puts into the offense.”
In short, this planned hire seems to check all the boxes Franklin sought to mark off before making a pick. At Kansas, he even found a way to utilize two quarterbacks being on the field at the same time. Which will, of course, be something Penn State aims to do next year and beyond.
Kotelnicki and his wife, Lindsey, have a son, Max, and daughter, Joy.
