Andy Kotelnicki has been a college football offensive coordinator for almost two decades. Born and raised in Litchfield, Minn. (pop: 6,537), he’s been almost everywhere, man.
Kansas, Buffalo, Wisconsin-Whitewater, University of Mary, Wisconsin-River Falls, Western Illinois…Penn State.
The U of Mary is in Bismarck, N.D. The population of Whitewater, River Falls and Makomb, Ill. (home of Western Illinois) is 46,021. Combined. And Buffalo…well, Buffalo averages 8 feet of snow a year.
None of them were hot spots — figuratively or literally. Until now.
“Penn State is a national brand. Everyone knows it. They know this has been one of the best football programs historically for a long time,” Kotelnicki said after practice on Tuesday night, 111 days into his tenure as James Franklin’s sixth offensive coordinator in 11 seasons. “This place, this fan base, it does speak for itself.”
Which is great for recruiting. But it can’t be the be-all, end-all when on the road, selling Dear Old State.
“At the end of the day you can’t get stuck in a situation where you let the logo do it for you,” Kotelnicki said. “Because I think at the end of the day, we’re in the people business. I think when players and recruits come here, they get a really quick observation that we are very genuine and sincere — from the head coach down.
“It’s an awesome place, but I think people who choose to come here do so because of the people who are here, wearing that brand.”
Nothing new for Kotelnicki. Throughout his career, he has had to sell himself, his offense, his schemes, his coaching and teaching abilities more than the panache of being a University of Mary Marauder or a Western Illinois Leatherneck.
ON THE OFFENSIVE
About that offense: At Kansas in 2021-23, with Kotelnicki as the offensive coordinator, the Jayhawks won 16 games. Juxtapose that with the nine seasons prior to Kotelnicki and head coach Lance Leipold arriving in Lawrence: In that time, the program reached 16 wins total.
And in 2023, Kansas’ offense ranked seventh in the nation in yards per completion (14.76), eighth in rushing offense (211.3), 13th in third down conversion percentage (48.1) and 17th in passing efficiency (158.6).
That success propelled Kotelnicki to Penn State, sweetened by a four-year, $7.1 million contract.
Now, he’s trying to install — and teach — his new-to-PSU offensive philosophy to a program that was bipolar as could be the past few seasons. The Nittany Lions were 21-1 the past two seasons against teams not named Ohio State or Michigan. And against teams named Ohio State and Michigan the past three seasons, the program averaged just 19.3 points per game, which led to the firing of Kotelnicki’s predecessor by Franklin.
And the hiring of Coach K.
WHY. HOW. AND WHAT?
The new offensive coordinator, now 43, is not the same one who was at all those backwater towns, learning his craft, on his journey to Penn State. He’s better.
Why? Well, it’s about the how. That’s what. “There are three things that are very important,” Kotelnicki said, “when you’re trying to get people to do something, like an objective: It’s what. It’s how. It’s why.”
Kotelnicki thinks about these things. Hard. It’s naturally part of his make-up. And also part of his academic background. (Part of the dichotomy of a man who named one child Maximus and the other child Joy.) He has a bachelor’s degree in health and human performance, and a master’s degree in kinesiology.
Here’s how Andy explains his what and why:
“As a coach, you want to spend a lot of time on the ‘how,’ which is really important, though all the pieces support each other,” he said. “But, if you don’t start with the ‘why‘ and the ‘what,’ the ‘how’ gets lost. We want to make sure everything we are doing that we are explaining why we are doing these things — everything from the drilling in practice to teaching scheme and technique. Why are we doing these sort of things?”
Why? Because times change. Players change. And coaches must change.
“So, what’s different today than from when I was coaching 15 years ago?” Kotelnicki asked himself Tuesday night before a gathering of reporters could chime in. “I would say most coaches would say they do a much better job today explaining to their students why they do what they are doing.”
Will Coach K’s point be well-taken? The answer, come this fall, will be in the points.
