Penn State coach James Franklin is making a bet on Andy Kotelnicki to pull the Nittany Lions into national title contention as his new offensive coordinator.
Barry Reeger | AP file photo
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Penn State’s process to land a new offensive coordinator lasted all of 19 days.
From firing Mike Yurcich on Nov. 12, coach James Franklin moved quickly considering the Nittany Lions still had two games left to play.
The Lions’ regular season ended last Friday night and by the following Friday afternoon, the school approved the hiring of Kansas’ Andy Kotelnicki.
“It is a tremendous honor for me and my wife, Lindsey, to become part of a program with such a rich history of success and a tremendous family environment with an elite leader in coach Franklin,” Kotelnicki said through the school. “I am excited to get to work with the tremendous staff and student-athletes we have at Penn State.”
Kotelnicki becomes the sixth full-time offensive coordinator for Franklin, who will be heading into his 11th season at Penn State in 2024. Kotelnicki follows John Donovan, Joe Moorhead, Ricky Rahne, Kirk Ciarrocca and Yurcich. Moorhead and Rahne left for head coaching jobs while the other three were fired.
Franklin has long said he keeps a constantly updated list of promising hires for his staff. And there’s little doubt that Kotelnicki’s work as Buffalo’s offensive coordinator impressed Franklin when the teams met in 2019 — a game that the Bulls actually led at halftime.
In the week leading up to that meeting, Franklin mentioned Kotelnicki by name in his weekly press conference. Then, during the game, Buffalo’s success on third downs against the Lions stood out to Franklin, who saw his own offense struggle on third downs this season — especially against Ohio State and Michigan.
“I think they are very well coached. They have a really good plan,” Franklin said following the Buffalo game four years ago. “I think a lot of their third-down success came from first- and second-down success. … They created a bunch of third-and-shorts, third-and-manageable situations, where they had the ability to run or pass.”
Kotelnicki has done well running the offense for head coach Lance Leipold for the past 11 years at three different schools. Together they won two Division III national championships at Wisconsin-Whitewater before they coached together at Buffalo and Kansas.
The football aspect largely spoke for itself. There was still the matter of interviewing and working out a deal, which played out this week after the Lions and Jayhawks both finished their regular season schedules.
“Our search process for an offensive coordinator was extensive and throughout it, Andy’s name kept rising to the top of the list,” Franklin said through the school. “Not only were we impressed with Andy’s history of successful offensive production, but he has proven ability to win at all levels and play to the strength of his personnel.
“In his 18 years as a play caller, he has a track record of coming into a program and improving offenses, especially through explosive plays, third down conversions and red zone success. We are thrilled to have Andy and his family join us in Happy Valley.”
Franklin and the Lions are hoping not to go through a second coordinator search this month. The success of defensive coordinator Manny Diaz has earned him attention as a head coaching candidate once again, with his name connected to the opening at Duke.
In the meantime, Penn State awaits its bowl destination, which will be announced Sunday. The Lions will need favorites Michigan and Texas to win their respective conference championships on Saturday to prevent either Iowa or Oklahoma State from stealing their spot in a New Year’s Six bowl.