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Andy Kotelnicki 'Looking Forward' to 2025 Season at Penn State

Kotelnicki, cited as a candidate at West Virginia, releases a statement about his future with the Nittany Lions.

Mark Wogenrich

Penn State Nittany Lions offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki walks on the field before a college football game at Beaver Stadium.
Penn State Nittany Lions offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki walks on the field before a college football game at Beaver Stadium. / Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images
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Penn State offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki appeared to close the recruiting process Monday, posting a statement on social media that he's "looking forward to what 2025 has in store" for the Nittany Lions. That effectively ended Kotelnicki's tour of the coaching carousel, which included reported interest from West Virginia for their head-coaching position.

"Beyond lucky to be a part of the Penn State Football Family," Kotelnicki wrote in a post on X. "Still a lot to accomplish this season and I am looking forward to what 2025 has in store for our program! #WeAre"

Though Kotelnicki's statement could be parsed, his wife Lindsey delivered something more emphatic.

Kotelnicki soothed nerves in and out of the program two days after guiding Penn State's offense to one of its best performances of the season. The Nittany Lions totaled 518 yards, including 292 rushing, in a 45-37 loss to Oregon in the Big Ten Championship Game. Penn State's offense produced more points and total yards against Oregon than any team this season. Penn State's 518 total yards were the most against Oregon since Washington (522) in 2022.

Kotelnicki's name had been mentioned as a candidate for the West Virginia job, which became open when Neal Brown was fired. Kotelnicki didn't have any direct ties with West Virginia but was expected to be a fixture on search lists this offseason. Kotelnicki guided the Big Ten's top-ranked regular-season offense in yards per play (6.8), nurtured quarterback Drew Allar to No. 3 in the conference in passer rating and helped turn tight end Tyler Warren into the Big Ten tight end of the year.

The Minnesota native has been a popular hire across Penn State's offense for his ability to teach his offense, give players ownership in it and make dad jokes. Further, his players seem to love and respect him and his offense. One of Kotelnicki's more unique initiatives with the offense involved public speaking.

"It's fun to be in system like that, for sure," quarterback Drew Allar said.

Added left tackle Drew Shelton, "His energy, his passion that he pours into use every single day, his commitment to showing us that he knows that he’s confident we’re going to get our job done, it pays dividends for us."

And said right tackle Anthony Donkoh: "ll say [the offense is] super, super fun. I mean, he's like an offensive mastermind. ... Just playing under him is just super awesome and cool."

Kotelnicki came to Penn State after spending 11 seasons with head coach Lance Leipold at three different programs. They most recently coached together for three seasons at Kansas, where Kotelnicki guided an offense with top-20 grades in explosive plays.

"Kotelnicki has done a great job as the coordinator," CBS' Rick Neuheisel said on a recent Zoom call discussing the Big Ten title game. "Drew Allar is a 71-percent passer. His average [yards] per attempt is up from a year ago. That was a concern for all Nittany Lions fans a year ago, that it was under 7 yards, and was it kind of dink and dunk, and could they make big plays against good teams? That number is up over 9 now. That's championship level."

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Mark Wogenrich
MARK WOGENRICH

Mark Wogenrich is Editor and Publisher of AllPennState, the site for Penn State news on SI's FanNation Network. He has covered Penn State sports for more than two decades across three coaching staffs and three Rose Bowls.

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