Penn State officially announces hiring of offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki
Penn State has officially filled its offensive coordinator vacancy on the coaching staff by formally announcing the hiring of Andy Kotelnicki. Kotelnicki comes to Penn State from Kansas, where he helped turn the Jayhawks offense around over the past three seasons.
“Our search process for an offensive coordinator was extensive and throughout it, Andy’s name kept rising to the top of the list,” Penn State head coach James Franklin said in a released statement. “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 addition to his success as the offensive coordinator at Kansas, Kotelnicki had a notable run at Buffalo and, before that, with Wisconsin-Whitewater at the Division 3 level. Kotelnicki has been a key assistant for Kansas head coach Lance Leipold at all three schools.
“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,” Franklin said. “We are thrilled to have Andy and his family join us in Happy Valley.”
“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,” Kotelnicki said in a released statement. “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.”
Kotelnicki has been a key member of the coaching staff led by Kansas head coach Lance Leipold since Leipold’s time with Division 3 powerhouse Wisconsin-Whitewater. Leipold hired Kotelnicki to be his offensive coordinator at Wisconsin-Whitewater in 2013, after Kotelnicki spent two seasons with Division 2 University of Mary. Kotelnicki followed Leipold to Buffalo in 2015 and continued to serve in the role of offensive coordinator for six seasons with the Bulls. When Leipold left Buffalo to take the Kansas coaching job, Kotelnicki followed him to Lawrence.
Kotelnicki has helped transform the entire offensive identity at Kansas. Kansas had the nation’s 126th-ranked total offense out of 127 in the FBS during the 2020 season and the 90th-ranked total offense in 2019, the last season before the pandemic impacted the 2020 season. With Kotelnicki running the offense, Kansas has seen its total offensive rank jump from 114th in 2021 up to 29th this season.
For the sake of comparison, Penn State’s total offensive ranks were 82nd in 2020, 34th in 2021 (2 behind Kansas), and 62nd this season.
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