Penn State OC Andy Kotelnicki has changed more than just the Nittany Lions’ offense this season

Andy Kotelnicki isn’t one to take himself too seriously. He can rattle off an analogy about ice cream or strut around in a sleeveless shirt just as easily as he can dial up the perfect play call to dice up a defense. There is a unique balance to the Penn State offensive coordinator between who he is when big moments arrive and who he is when life requires a little levity.

“It’s just being authentically you, I think is what it is,” Kotelnicki said prior to the Fiesta Bowl during Penn State’s media day. “I want to have fun with what we’re doing. I want the guys to have fun. But I also want them to understand and train them to feel like they know what being locked in is and when it’s OK to smile and giggle and have fun and joke and use sarcasm, which is one of my love languages. And then to turn around and know how to execute a right play — focus.”

That’s part of the difference between Kotelnicki and other coaches. He is, unabashedly, himself. And that has been crucial for Penn State this year, because without him the Nittany Lions would not be in the College Football Playoff semifinals with a national championship just two wins away.

Changing more than the offense

Kotelnicki, who was hired in December of 2023, has not just changed the Penn State offense — he has helped change the identity of the unit and make it one of the most fun groups in all of college football.

His disposition has allowed his team to play freely and has given quarterback Drew Allar the freedom to be himself. And that has been a major part of the young quarterback’s progress in his second year as a starter.

Allar once appeared to be timid, especially for a former five-star recruit, but under Kotelnicki he has come out of his shell. He’s credited the coordinator and other coaches on staff this year — like quarterbacks coach Danny O’Brien — for the encouragement to do that, and it’s been obvious that he isn’t afraid to show who he is.

“The one thing that I was intentional about this year in talking with Danny, [Kotelnicki] and [Penn State head coach James] Franklin, is getting those emotional highs, but then coming right back down to just even and level headed,” Allar said Saturday during his pre-Orange Bowl media availability.

That balance is what Kotelnicki strives for — the ability to feel the moment but stay focused. But it’s not just about the quarterback and the players. The Penn State coaching staff has seen the difference, too.

Kotelnicki has developed a culture that makes his assistants enjoy coming to work. And that, according to wide receivers coach Marques Hagans, has been key in building what the offense has.

“The amount of laughs that happen,” Hagans said. “Everybody laughs a lot. It’s a time to be serious and lock in, but I think everybody just enjoys being around each other, and I think that’s a fun thing to be a part of. And it goes out to our guys, and I think they can feel it, and I think it allows us to stay connected, which I think is important. I think he’s done a really good job of creating that environment, and I think it’s brought us closer as coaches and made the environment that way.”

That trickles down to Allar and the rest of those players and can change the dynamic of a team. Everything about Penn State’s offense in 2023 felt tense. The Nittany Lions struggled to score against their best opponents and in the biggest moments the team played like it knew how much was on the line — but in a way that created stress rather than excitement.

That is a stark contrast to the 2024 team. Players want to make big plays, and when they score, they want to enjoy it. That aspect of football at this level — college students playing a kids’ game — is no small part of what has allowed Kotelnicki and the offense to have success this season.

“It’s all about confidence, and Andy got that personality,” running backs coach Ja’Juan Seider said. “You have a conversation with the guy and you know he’s got that joyful spirit in him, and it feeds into your offense. The coaching staff feeds into it, because at the end of the day, we all want to do this job and have fun with the hours we put in. It’s all about having fun and camaraderie. So if a player sees the coaches connect and having fun, guess what the player is gonna do? They gonna feed off of us.”

Becoming a balanced group

Whether it’s real or just a result of the success, it is clear Penn State is having more fun.

Like when Allar throws his hands up in celebration long before Nick Singleton’s 58-yard touchdown against Boise State, or when Kotelnicki cracks jokes at practice, or even when players and assistants start to smile when asked what the offensive coordinator does to make everything more fun.

That’s not surprising when a team wins more games than ever before in program history, or when it is only two wins away from the ultimate goal, but it’s still important.

Gone are the Nittany Lion teams that have failed to shine when the lights are brightest. In their stead is a group that knows how good it is on both sides of the ball — something that has only been the case defensively at times in the James Franklin era.

This is a balanced group, and Kotelnicki has gotten it there after defensive coordinator Tom Allen met his task of carrying the string of elite defenses under Franklin. That’s opened the game up more for the head coach to be who he wants, too. He said Saturday that his priority has always been to be aggressive, dating back to when he was at Vanderbilt, but a team’s composition doesn’t always allow for that.

“You’ve got to do what you’ve got to do to win games and give your team the best advantage,” Franklin said. “Sometimes it’s going to be being aggressive and going for it on fourth down, and some years it’s going to be punting based on how your team is built and constructed and what your strengths and weaknesses are.”

To say what Franklin didn’t directly — it can be hard to go for it on fourth down when the defense can be trusted but the offense can’t. But that has clearly shifted back, and the Nittany Lions are as aggressive as ever, dictating the terms of engagement and setting the tone on defense and offense. And they’re doing it happily, knowing when to lock in, and when to have a laugh, a welcome change that came with Kotelnicki.

Thanks to him, their joy is now a weapon, one that breeds confidence and can help them light defenses up — a dangerous combo for a team on the verge of making it to the national title game.