Penn State OC Andy Kotelnicki makes memorable 1st impression

STATE COLLEGE — Andy Kotelnicki started by telling a story about growing up in a small town in Minnesota. Penn State’s new offensive coordinator was a kid when he was given a football helmet by his mom. It was the classic white Penn State helmet with a stripe down the middle.

“I thought I was Curtis Enis running around in the ’90s,” the former Division III offensive lineman said. “Even though that was certainly not in my future.”

What was in Kotelnicki’s future, funny enough, was coaching the Nittany Lions. And his first impression was memorable. Kotelnicki brought energy, insight and entertainment to his inaugural press conference as Penn State’s new play-caller. Friday was a tour de force.

Kotelnicki, who is replacing Mike Yurcich, met with the media for the first time during Penn State’s Peach Bowl media day at Beaver Stadium. He burst through the doors, bounced to the media room dais and talked shop for more than 30 minutes, engaging with questions and coming up with analogies on the fly.

Kotelnicki asked reporters to identify themselves by name and outlet “like on Ted Lasso with Trent Crimm,” for those familiar with the Apple TV show. He compared offensive philosophy to a Dairy Queen Blizzard (more on that in a bit). And he talked about the process of landing the job, his credentials and what he sees in the future for Penn State’s offense.

“I’m not taking this opportunity lightly,” Kotelnicki said. “It’s a big-time honor for me to sit up here and interact with this fan base and this family. It’s something that, if you were to ask me when I started coaching in college football where I’d want to coach, I’d say this place.”

It took 20 years of coaching for Kotelnicki to land a job like this. Kotelnicki has experienced an unorthodox rise to the position. The former lineman at Division III Wisconsin-River Falls started his play-calling career at his alma mater followed by two years at Division II University of Mary. Then, he won back-to-back Division III national championships at Wisconsin-Whitewater with head coach Lance Leipold.

Kotelnicki followed Leipold to Buffalo in 2015 and then again in 2021 to Kansas, where he transformed the Jayhawks’ offense into one of the most explosive in the FBS.

Kansas averaged 35.6 points in 2022, ranking second in the Big 12 and 21st in the FBS. This year, Kansas averaged 33.6 points, ranking fourth in the conference and 30th in the FBS. The Jayhawks attained bowl eligibility each of the last two seasons with a 14-11 combined record, far better than they’ve been for the last 15 years.

Kotelnicki, who spent 11 years with Leipold, was “super sad” to move on from Kansas and was appreciative of their partnership.

“I’m very thankful I got to be his offensive coordinator for all those stops we had,” Kotelnicki said. “But this is kind of one of those jobs for me personally but also for me professionally to grow and expand and challenge myself in the world of college football.”

Kotelnicki’s relationship with James Franklin was a “critical” part of the process. The two started to get to know each other years ago when Kotelnicki was still at Buffalo. He and Leipold came to State College for a coaching clinic, and they struck up a 30-minute conversation with Franklin in the lobby of The Penn Stater Hotel & Conference Center. Franklin invited them both to the Lasch Building the next morning. They toured the facility and talked ball for a couple hours.

Kotelnicki called it an “organic connection” from the start, and they stayed in touch. It was revealed Friday that Kotelnicki interviewed for Penn State’s opening at tight ends coach back in 2021; the Nittany Lions hired Ty Howle, who still holds the position.

“I joke with Coach Leipold. He didn’t hire me the first time he interviewed me, either,” Kotelnicki said. “So I don’t know. Maybe it’s something about my first impression that doesn’t fit well.”

That wasn’t the case Friday. Kotelnicki owned the room. And in between the light-hearted comments — he quipped that maybe now he gets to meet LaVar Arrington — the clinical play-caller went into great detail about his coaching philosophy.

Kotelnicki described his scheme as “a multiple pro-style offense that uses spread concepts and components with an emphasis on the word multiple.”

“It’s about putting players in a position to be successful,” Kotelnicki said. “… It’s about the people and the players. What do they do well? What are they capable of? What are their limitations? Let’s focus on things that are going to put them in position to be successful.

“It’s a hell of a lot easier to have a system and try to fit the pieces into it. You have to do a lot more critical reflection as a teacher and as a coach to figure out what makes the players go and what things they do well. … If you can’t do that as a coordinator, you’re missing the boat.”

Kotelnicki steered the ship to great effect with the Jayhawks. Kansas averaged 7 yards per play over the last two seasons. The only teams to outpace the Jayhawks were Oregon, LSU, USC, Georgia and Washington. And Kansas did it creatively with multiple playmakers.

The stats and sample size — Kotelnicki was successful at Buffalo, too — appealed to Franklin. So did his philosophy, which was discussed at length over “countless conversations.”

When asked about the complexities and simplicities of his system, the 43-year-old launched into an analogy about Dairy Queen that he made up off the top of his head.

“OK, so the Blizzard itself, right? It’s a wonderful dessert, which we should all use in moderation,” Kotelnicki said. “It looks complicated because it’s messy inside. But fundamentally, it’s mostly made up of what? Vanilla ice cream. So you can equate offensive football to your favorite Blizzard. Understand that what it’s going to look like is a messy piece of deliciousness. But fundamentally, it’s composed of really just vanilla ice cream and your favorite candies.

“It’s going to look really complex. But really at the end, it’s two ingredients mixed together. We want to make sure that we have the vanilla part of our offense mastered to the point that it’s a solid foundation of everything that we do. So that when we mix in all that good stuff, it’s going to make something that’s really awesome. … I hope that makes sense.”

It did make sense. Now, when Kotelnicki first brought up Dairy Queen, there were audible groans from the media room. Those watching the press conference live streamed at home might have done the same. Kotelnicki acknowledged he has to try the Berkey Creamery.

But hey, if Penn State’s offense is as good as it can be under Kotelnicki, he’ll get a pass.