Kansas offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki is expected to become the next offensive coordinator at Penn State, a team source said Thursday. Here’s what you need to know:
- Kotelnicki will replace Mike Yurcich, whom Penn State fired on Nov. 12, a day after a 24-15 loss to Michigan.
- Kotelnicki has been the OC at Kansas since 2021, succeeding Jayhawks coach Lance Leipold from Buffalo and Wisconsin-Whitewater.
- Kansas ranks 8th in the FBS in yards per game this season, while Penn State is 81st.
Kotelnicki’s success in Kansas
In 2021, Kansas ranked 104th in yards per game. Last year, in Kotelnicki’s second season, the Jayhawks improved to No. 6 and played in a bowl game for the first time since 2008. This year, despite injury issues that included star QB Jalon Daniels being out for much of the season due to a back injury, the Jayhawks still ranked 8th in the nation with an average of 7.01 yards per game. The Jayhawks are 30th in points and have an 8-4 record, ensuring their first winning season since 2008. – Bruce Feldman, national college football insider
What’s next for Kotelnicki at Penn State?
Penn State coach James Franklin said he was looking for someone to be the head offensive coach. Kotelnicki’s extensive experience as an offensive coordinator – starting at Division III Wisconsin-River Falls – is definitely a fit. Kotelnicki will be Franklin’s sixth offensive coordinator since arriving in Happy Valley in 2014. He inherits an offense that is expected to return junior quarterback Drew Allar and running backs Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen, but will have to reshape his receiving corps and presumably replace projected top-10 pick Olu Fashanu at left tackle. Although the Nittany Lions are 10-2 and have a shot at the New Year’s Six, the offense has been inconsistent most of the season and has struggled to generate explosive plays.
Last week, Franklin explained what parameters he looked for when hiring the offensive coordinator. He cited success on third downs, success on opening drives and explosive plays as three key areas. Ultimately, what matters is how this data compares to the team’s toughest opponents. Franklin also talked about wanting to hire someone who has been doing this long enough to have an identity.
“You have to be careful when someone has a special quarterback or someone has a generational receiver and that skews all the stats, that makes it difficult,” Franklin said. “The larger the sample size and the larger the amount of work, the more you can partially eliminate this risk and feel more confident in the decision. And also someone who can come in and deploy the staff based on how it’s already been built, if that makes sense.”
Kansas has had 67 plays of more than 20 yards this season, ranking 23rd. Penn State has just 40 (117th). Kotelnicki’s experience working with quarterback Jalon Daniels, who completed 66.1 percent of his passes for 2,014 yards and 18 touchdowns with four interceptions in 2022, certainly had to be an important part of Franklin’s search, as the head coach said he wanted to hire someone who Maximizing Allar’s strengths would be a focus of the process. — Audrey Snyder, Penn State beat writer
Required reading
(Photo: Missy Minear/Kansas Athletics)