Penn State football announced on Friday afternoon the hiring of Kansas offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki for the same role with the Nittany Lions.
The announcement came shortly after the university’s Board of Trustees Subcommittee on Compensation met on Friday to approve the terms of Kotelnicki’s hiring. Kotelnicki’s contract terms have not been made public and are not expected to be.
“We are excited to welcome Andy, his wife, Lindsey, son, Maximus, and daughter, Joy, to Penn State,” Penn State coach James Franklin said in a press release. “Our search process for an offensive coordinator was extensive and throughout it, Andy’s name kept rising to the top of the list.
“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.”
Over Kotelnicki’s last three seasons at Kansas with head coach Lance Leipold, the Jayhawks have made the most of what they have had to work wirth ranking 12th in the country in 20+ yard plays (8.3), 15th in 30+ yard plays (3.89) and 11th in 40+ yard plays (2.12) during that span. Additionally, KU ranks 10th in the country in 15+ yard pass plays (20.97%) in the last three years. The Kansas offense has been efficient in the red zone and on third downs over the last three seasons, ranking 11th in red zone touchdown percentage (68.24) and 16th in third down conversion percentage (44.9).
Prior to his three years at Kansas, Kotelnicki was the offensive coordinator under Leipold at Buffalo from 2015 to 2020. In their final season with the Bulls, Buffalo won the MAC East division with an offense that was No. 18 nationally in yards per game and No. 5 in scoring offense, averaging 43.4 points per game, earning Kotelnicki a nomination for the Broyles Award for the nation’s best assistant coach.
“I would like to thank Coach Franklin and [Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics Patrick] Kraft for this incredible opportunity to join Penn State Football,” said Kotelnicki in a press release. “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. I am excited to get to work with the tremendous staff and student-athletes we have at Penn State. I would also like to thank Coach Leipold, the coaching staff and the student-athletes who I’ve had the wonderful opportunity to work with at Kansas and wish them nothing but the best.”
Penn State fans will get a chance to first see Kotelnicki in action at the annual Blue White scrimmage, the date of which was announced on Thursday.
“Hopefully [it’s] someone that’s done it long enough that you have a true indication [of success]. Because we have to be careful – somebody could have a special quarterback, or somebody could have a generational wide receiver and it skews all the stats. That’s what makes it hard, right? So that’s where the bigger the sample size, the bigger body of work, it allows you to eliminate some of that risk and feel more confident in the decision,” Franklin said of the hiring process a few weeks ago. “It’s also somebody that’s going to come in and be able to use the personnel based on how it’s already been built.”
Kotelnicki checks off many of those boxes on paper, how he does in a new-look Big Ten remains to be seen.
