James Franklin made a strong and noteworthy hire to his coaching staff on Thursday. The Penn State Nittany Lions will reportedly add Kansas Jayhawks offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki.
Fox Sports college football insider Bruce Feldman reported on Kotelnicki’s hiring on Thursday afternoon.
“Kansas offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki is expected to become the next OC at Penn State,” Feldman reported.
SOURCE: Kansas offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki is expected to become the next OC at Penn State.
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) November 30, 2023
Kotelnicki replaces Mike Yurcich, who the Nittany Lions fired after a dismal season offensively in State College. Franklin had hired Yurcich to replace Kirk Ciarrocca after Ciarrocca spent one season as the team’s offensive coordinator in 2020. With his hiring, Kotelnicki became Franklin’s sixth offensive coordinator since Penn State hired him in 2014. He follows Yurcich, Ciarrocca, Ricky Rahne, Joe Moorhead, and John Donovan.
Penn State simply has to really figure it out in order to compete int he BIg Ten. The conference is expanding and letting in USC, UCLA, Oregon, and Washington. That makes everything more challenging for a Penn State program that can’t get over Ohio State or Michigan right now. Since the conference is getting even more crowded, breathing room will be hard to come by. So they have to make the moves they think will work the best.
KU overperformed yet again in 2023. They ranked 26th in the nation in scoring offense with over 32 points per game. They also ranked eighth in the nation in Yards/Play with 6.8. Their stellar play has led many to believe Lance Leipold could be a candidate for a bigger job this offseason. Evidently, though, his offensive coordinator will take the first move out of Lawrence between them.
