Penn State Football zeroed in on its offensive coordinator, and will hire Andy Kotelnicki, the former play-caller for the Kansas Jayhawks this season, who had been there since 2021.

In Kontelnicki‘s first season in Kansas, the offense finished ranked 104th, but last year, they improved to the No.6 offense and helped the Jayhawks to their first bowl game since 2008.

This season, the Kansas offense was ranked No.8, even despite losing starting quarterback Jalon Daniels to injury.

What Andy Kotelnicki Brings Penn State Football

 

Under Kotelnicki, expect Penn State‘s offense to be more explosive.

This past season, Kansas had over 65 plays of 20-plus yards. Meanwhile, the Nittany Lions only had 40.

The Jayhawks averaged 7.01 yards per play.

Kotelnicki works well with quarterbacks, this season with Daniels out; Jason Bean threw for 1,691 yards with 12 touchdowns and four interceptions; he also completed 61.4% of his passes.

In 2022, when Daniels was healthy, he passed for 2,014 yards, 18 touchdowns, and four interceptions. Daniels completed 66.1 of his passes under Kotelnicki’s tutelage.

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Kotenicki will need to maximize Drew Allar‘s talents.

This season, Allar threw for 2,336 yards, completed 61.3 of his passes, while tossing 23 touchdowns, and one interception. These are solid numbers, but Penn State failed to get the ball field; Allar‘s average completion was 6.7 yards per pass.

Kansas averaged 9.4 yards per pass this year. The Jayhawks’ three top receivers averaged over 16 yards per catch.

Kotelnicki is also not scared to run the ball. Devin Neal rushed for 1,209 yards and 15 touchdowns. This bodes well for Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen.

Kansas’s offense averaged 434 yards per game and was very explosive. Kotelnicki’s offense is a mixture of pro-style concepts, spread concepts, and a lot of pre-snap moving.

“It’s a multiple pro-style offense that uses spread concepts,” Kotelnicki told The University
Kansan about his offense. “Emphasis on multiple, emphasis on pro-style in the sense that we use a lot of different personnel groupings and put them in positions to be successful, just like you see on Sundays.”

This could be the perfect hire for the Nittany Lions; they just need to hit the transfer portal to add some receiver talent so the offense can work.

MORE: 3 Things to Know About New Penn State OC Andy Kotelnicki

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