Scouting Andy Kotelnicki: The View From Kansas

Penn State's new offensive coordinator is a teacher and innovator with head-coaching ambitions.

Penn State coach James Franklin turned toward Kansas this week to find his next offensive coordinator. Andy Kotelnicki, an 18-year veteran play-caller at multiple levels of college football, will take over Penn State's offense in 2024.

Kotelnicki is a creative coach who matches his offense to personnel strengths, a trait Franklin cited as key to the search. All coaches say that, but Kotelnicki has experience with it from programs in Wisconsin, Buffalo and Kansas.

So who is Andy Kotelnicki, and what does he bring to the Penn State football program? For some insight, we went to Lawrence, where Andy Mitts is the publisher of Blue Wings Rising, the FanNation site at SI.com that covers all things Kansas. In this Q&A, Mitts, who had an inside view of Kotelnicki's success at Kansas, discusses his innovative approach, his relationship with Jayhawks coach Lance Leipold and why he's leaving now.

Question: What made Andy Kotelnicki so successful in revitalizing Kansas' offense the past two years?

Andy Mitts: I think it was a combination of a couple things. Kansas had a pretty large talent base that wasn't being used correctly by the last coaching staff, and Kotelnicki is well-known for his ability to shift his scheme to match the talent he has. That flexibility is what works in his favor, as he is able to adapt both schemes and actual play calls to what he has on the field. On the talent front, the majority of the offensive playmakers were already on the roster before Kotelnicki and Leipold arrived. Jalon Daniels, Daniel Hishaw, Torry Locklin, Bryce Cabeldue, Earl Bostick, Armaj Reed-Adams, Lawrence Arnold, Luke Grimm, Quentin Skinner and more were all here in the last season under Les Miles, and Jason Bean had already transferred for the spring semester when Miles was terminated. The bulk of this season's offense was here and just waiting to be developed and molded.

Question: How is he an innovator offensively? What are some of his key offensive values?

Andy Mitts: The biggest thing is misdirection. He delights in finding ways to run familiar concepts out of unique alignments, and the biggest problem for opposing defenses is figuring out what the play is going to be. But on top of all of that is discipline and execution. The concepts he implements are not difficult or overly complicated, but they do require an attention to detail that requires a higher level of practice and focus. He is willing to live with mistakes, but expects his players to learn from them.

Question: How does Kotelnicki relate to players, and vice versa?

Andy Mitts: The relationship between coach and players is fantastic. Kotelnicki served as the tight ends coach here at Kansas in addition to being the offensive coordinator because he really enjoys teaching and molding players. And the best example of that relationship came this offseason, as the offensive staff held an open call for play ideas from the players. He expected players to come in with a real plan of how the play would be executed, some of the strengths and weaknesses of those plays, and why it would be good for the team. It might take a while for the Penn State players to understand his scheme well enough to be able to do something similar, but he really does love teaching players instead of just calling plays.

Question: Kotelnicki and Lance Leipold have been together for 11 years. Why do you think he's making this move now to Penn State?

Andy Mitts: I wrote about this over on Blue Wings Rising, and I think this has everything to do with building his own resume outside of the Lance Leipold umbrella. It's true that he has enjoyed a lot of success while coaching with Lance Leipold, and it has been abundantly clear that Kotelnicki was the main play-caller. But Leipold had success before Kotelnicki, and no matter how good this group does, it is going to be difficult to separate how much of the Jayhawks' success is driven by Leipold and how much is driven by Kotelnicki. Branching out and bringing another offense to similar heights will solidify him as one of the greatest offensive minds in the game right now.

Question: Lance Leipold has said that Kotelnicki will be a head coach someday. How do those ambitions factor into this decision?

Andy Mitts: That's actually the main factor. I was told that money wasn't the issue, as Kansas was ready to make Kotelnicki one of the highest-paid coordinators to stick around for a few more years. But he won't be taking a hit financially to go to Happy Valley, and he gets the opportunity to expand that resume in anticipation of getting a head coaching job. Staying at Kansas could give him a chance to be a head coach at a G5 school. Succeeding at Penn State gives him a chance to make his first head coaching job at the Power Five level. It's hard to blame the guy for wanting that.

For more about Kansas football and basketball, check out Blue Wings Rising on the FanNation network.

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AllPennState is the place for Penn State news, opinion and perspective on the SI.com network. Publisher Mark Wogenrich has covered Penn State for more than 20 years, tracking three coaching staffs, three Big Ten titles and a catalog of great stories. Follow him on Twitter @MarkWogenrich. And consider subscribing (button's on the home page) for more great content across the SI.com network.