Penn State Football hired Kansas offensive coordinator Andy Kotlelnicki as its next play caller, according to Bruce Feldman.
Kotelnicki is a relative unknown for the majority of Penn State fans, so he’s a breakdown of the key basics Nittany Nation needs to know about the new man in charge of the offense.
Penn State Football Lands Experienced play-caller
Kotelnicki has been a college coach since 2004, where he was an assistant at Western Illinois. Starting in 2006, he was the offensive coordinator at Wisconsin-River Falls before taking over the same position at Mary in 2011.
In 2013, Kotelnicki started working with current Kansas head coach Lance Leipold at Wisconsin-Whitewater. The duo then took their talents to Buffalo, where they faced Penn State Football twice, before making the move to Kansas.
Getting Kotelnicki away from his long-time friend in Leipold is a massive move by James Franklin.
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Kansas OC Andy Kotelnicki makes opposing safeties look like idiots almost every game.
No idea about his head coaching aspirations but the next program which can’t figure out offense might need to throw the bag at him.
— Bud Elliott (@BudElliott3) September 9, 2023
The Stats
Kansas has never been perceived as a football school, but Leipold and Kotelnicki were able to change that narrative at least somewhat the past two seasons.
In 2022, the Jayhawks went 6-7 while averaging 35.6 PPG and 438.8 YPG. This happened in what became practically a two-quarterback system. Jalon Daniels, who dealt with injuries, completed 66.1% of his passes for 2,014 yards with 18 touchdowns and 4 interceptions. His backup, Jason Bean, completed 64% of his passes for 1,280 yards with 14 touchdowns compared to 4 interceptions.
The duo combined for 11 rushing scores as well.
This season, Daniels once again was bitten by the injury bug, but Kansas still managed to go 8-4 with 33.6 PPG. With Daniels out, Bean completed 61.4% of his passes for 1,681 yards and 12 touchdowns compared to 4 interceptions on 171 attempts.
The Jayhawks relied on the run a bit more this season, with Devin Neal rushing for 1,209 yards and 15 touchdowns and Daniel Hishaw Jr. adding 599 yards and 8 scores.
Let’s also not forget that Kotelnicki was at Buffalo when running back Jaret Patterson was running wild for 3,884 yards and 52 touchdowns in just 32 career games.
Will he be the QB coach?
Kotelnicki has solely been the offensive coordinator during his time at Kansas.
That’s because unlike at Penn State, Kansas does not have a coach dedicated to special teams and also does not separate cornerbacks and safeties into separate coaches, meaning the two coordinators do not need to coach a position group.
That will change for Kotelnicki at Penn State, where traditionally under Franklin, the offensive coordinator coaches the quarterbacks.
While at Buffalo, Kotelnicki spent time as the position group coach for every skill offensive position. He at one point was the coach for the running backs, tight ends, wide receivers and quarterbacks.
So, Kotelnicki does not have a ton of experience as a quarterback coach, but it is something he has done before. Unless the Penn State staff undergoes serious changes, which isn’t expected, quarterback will be the open spot for him.
MORE: Penn State Game-by-Game Predictions
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