Exclusive: Andy Kotelnicki talks Drew Allar, offensive line, receivers, pressure at Penn State
Andy Kotelnicki has no misunderstanding about Penn State football’s upcoming season. Fresh off a 10-3 campaign loaded with strong wins that were offset by dramatic shortcomings against the Nittany Lions’ highest-ranked opponents, the program finds itself at a crossroads.
And, Kotelnicki is the man head coach James Franklin has called upon to deliver to Penn State a more fruitful path. Following a successful tenure at Buffalo and Kansas serving alongside Lance Leipold, Kotelnicki now brings his talents to Penn State with the intention of lifting the Nittany Lions to new heights.
Can he do it?
Meeting with Blue White Illustrated’s Nate Bauer for an exclusive one-on-one interview, Kotelnicki tackled the challenges and highlighted the assets in front of him as preseason camp quickly closes in. Here is the complete transcript from their conversation, lightly edited for clarity:
(Missed our Monday interview? Complete BWI one-on-one with James Franklin, here.)
Exclusive: Andy Kotelnicki summer interview
When you got here, how much of last year did you watch?
Andy Kotelnicki: I think it’s healthy when you’re going into a new job is to figure out where the kids have been or gone and you look at the film and make a few notes on who they are and maybe just scheme things. But more about personnel a little bit and then you start evaluating defensive structures that you face on a weekly basis. So I would spend a decent amount of time looking at that, but knowing that moving forward, I was gonna have to form my own opinions.
I think one of the nicest things sometimes about when a new coach comes in, especially a coordinator, it’s an opportunity for kids to basically have a blank slate. So no matter how good or bad they were, your average players should feel like they have an opportunity to become viewed as above average. So that journey had happened throughout the spring for sure.
What were your impressions of the personnel that carried over into this year?
Andy Kotelnicki: Coming in, people were talking about obviously Drew in the quarterback room, the line, and then you think about the running backs and tight ends. There was some depth in those two rooms. And then they’re talking about receivers.
And I, this is my opinion right now, and I think I’ve said this publicly, but I’ve also said to the receivers, I said that I think they’ve unfairly become the brunt of the reason there was limited success, if you want to call it that. Or there was a ceiling. I think those guys are gonna really overachieve next year in everyone’s eyes. I feel confident saying that. So that’s my evaluation of them, especially after being with them through spring.
Does it change with KeAndre Lambert-Smith not being part of that equation?
Andy Kotelnicki: It doesn’t. It’s Penn State. There are guys who are fast enough, big enough, good enough to help us be successful. And again, I think they’re going to surprise people. I feel very confident saying that. And we need them to, so we’re gonna make that happen.
Assessing the shortcomings of 2023
Some of the narratives about last season’s shortcomings seemed to ignore the interdependence of those outcomes.
Andy Kotelnicki: One of my favorite quotes is that statistics lie and liars use statistics. So you can twist all those things to whatever narrative you want. Blame it on him or him or them. And my thing is, and as I was just saying, the thing that I’ll do is I’m never going to put on any of the kids. Because when a play goes out there and it doesn’t work well. And I mean this and I had to grow to this as a playcaller and an offensive coordinator: the first thought that I think of is, ‘I should have practiced that more.’ Or, ‘I shouldn’t have had that kid out there to do it.’ Or, ‘I shouldn’t have asked them to do that kind of play.’ And we typically don’t have that, because we’re gonna practice the hell out of the things that we do. So we’re going to have a lot of confidence in what we’re doing. But it’s easy. The low hanging fruit is to say, ‘well this kid just couldn’t make the play. We need to have this.’
We have it! Let’s develop it. I think it’s really hard to grow, especially in a world of teaching and coaching, we’re fundamentally relying on what you teach and train people to go out there and do it. It’s hard to take ownership as the person who’s gonna go out there, even though I’m never gonna throw a pass, I’m never going to block or run the ball at Penn State, to take ownership when it doesn’t go well. That’s hard. That’s a process that people have to go through at a high level. Because the easy thing to do is, ‘we just need this.’ I’m not gonna do that. I’m not gonna blame a group or a position or a player for performance or lack thereof.
But, players win games, no?
Andy Kotelnicki: They do. I’m never gonna throw a pass. I’m never gonna catch the ball for them. But gosh dang it, I have the ability to control how much they practice that. We need to do that. It needs to be part of the evaluation process.
But one of the biggest things and steps in our journey as coaches and teachers and really parents is: What are people capable of? What are their limitations? Put them in a position to execute their capabilities. Grow their areas of limitations, but just don’t put them in the position where they’re limited.
‘Hey, this receiver can’t do this.’ Okay. Don’t put them out there to do it. I’m just telling you, saying those things and doing them are a lot harder.
Taking on the challenges of Penn State football
You’ve been at stops that we’re not…
Andy Kotelnicki: Good. You can say it.
I can say this. When we went to Kansas, I really feel this, it was literally the laughingstock of all college football because of how consistently bad it had been. And just the calamity of poor decisions that everyone observed. It’s easy for me to say that later. But for over a decade, what was happening there, and we go there to turn it around, and we were able to, was really rewarding.
But it was tough. And it’s not just the coaches and the players. It’s like everything. You gotta learn how to do that stuff. I’m not pointing at a head coach or a coordinator or players that we’re there. It’s literally, when you talk about winning and being successful at major college football, it requires alignment and the entire university. It’s not just a coach.
You’re stepping into a situation with enormous pressure, not built by you, specifically on the offensive side of the ball. Do you feel that? What’s your perception of that climate?
Andy Kotelnicki: I don’t know that I feel it any more because in through my years of coordinating and coaching and I’ve been fortunate to go through this journey, like I put as much on myself to perform as anyone else. I gotta be careful I don’t listen to the noise, the good and the bad, because you just got to block it out.
I always try to operate under the assumption that we we have to go out there and we have to have the advantage, both from a player standpoint, their abilities, and from a scheme standpoint and a strategy standpoint. We always are the underdog. That’s how I try to do things. When you know you’re the underdog, you don’t feel like you have pressure. Even though I know that we’re not the underdog, per se, that’s the mentality that I’m coming in and I guess I’ve always had. It’s just me as a person, to go in there and play and coach that way.
But the pressure piece, I don’t know. Whatever. I remember one of my first years of coordinating at a Division III school, it was senior day. I can’t remember how good we were, we weren’t very good that year. And a dad was out there, the parents are out there shaking hands, and I’m out there and the dad in front of the whole stadium grabs my hand to shake it. Said, “Call a good game today, Kotelnicki.” That’s part of what it comes with. So I don’t know that I feel it. I recognize that it’s there, per se, but I’ve always had it there. We have to go out there and perform.
You took the job. You wanted this opportunity. But in some ways, you’re being asked to fix a problem you didn’t build, and have the pressure to do so.
Andy Kotelnicki: What coach, head coach, coordinator on either side of the ball or phase isn’t that the case? The guy who replaced me at Kansas, they got expectations. He’s got the same pressure, basically. The guy who is at Michigan, he’s got pressure. The team that hasn’t won a game last year, they all have pressure to improve the program.
What the difference is, the improvement for Penn State and what that looks like if we improve, is to be the best in the country. That’s the only difference. But I would have been a failure at Kansas, and had the same pressure, we went from a winless year to three to six or whatever it was. If we went to two again… it’s all relative.
It’s how you manage it. But we all just gotta get better. That’s what I love about being here is that we have a good team. So our defense is really good, special teams, there’s depth. And so every day we’re competing and every day there’s that quote unquote pressure to go out there and beat somebody. That’s really pretty good.
Next steps for Andy Kotelnicki at Penn State
What is necessary to take this Penn State offense from good to great?
Andy Kotelnicki: That’s a really good question. It starts with making sure we don’t play bad football. Turnovers, drops, mental errors, penalties, negative plays, sacks, runs, those have to be eliminated from your game because that’ll beat you first. So the elimination of bad football is going to win you games long before playing good football will ever win you a game. So you got those things.
But we have to make sure that we are being the ones that they have to react to us, not the other way around. We want to have a very proactive mindset offensively. We want everything that we do, I want the defense to feel very stressed in what they have to do to defend us. And there’s a lot of ways to create stress within some of the scheme things that we do, but then it’s also within good players. I want people to feel stressed about how are we going to cover and tackle Ty Warren and Fat and Nick Singleton.
Then the different personnel groupings that we could have. I’m sure we’ll talk about receiver production here at some point. That group, they were the scape goat for everybody. I don’t want to blame the players. And I think that that group, I’ve said it publicly before and I’ll say it again, I think that group will overachieve and surprise people. I really do. I know that. And I know that’s gonna happen because they’re good enough to win us football games.
Do you look at the landscape of Big Ten defenses this year and what’s your perception of them?
Andy Kotelnicki: We’ve looked at our opponents for next year. The reality is, if you want to play championship level football, you got to be good. You got to be a good defense, you got to be a good offense, you got to be good on special teams. And you got to beat good teams. And so one of the first things that we had done in the spring and we’re going into the summer, ‘Who are our best opponents? What are they doing on defense?’
We’re studying them, we’re looking at them, we’re evaluating them, we’re trying to figure out and make sure that schematically we’re doing things that are going to beat them, not the teams that we should beat. I am approaching this as though we shouldn’t beat anybody. That’s the mentality that I want to have. We have to go out there. And we’re never just going to be able to go out there and okay, we could just do this and this and win this game. That could happen that way. But you can’t plan that way.
My favorite quote in football, Bill Walsh said, ‘You should never reduce the game to the point where you just blame the players for not physically overwhelming their opponent.’ It’s a profound quote when you think about it. And there’s a lot of people that do that. And when you can do that, that’s okay. That’s good coaching.
But what happens when you can’t? And if all you do is prepare your whole life and your whole season like you’re just going to be able to allow your players to physically overwhelm them at all positions, then when you get to a situation when you’re playing some really good football teams that have the answers, you better have some things to help your kids out. So we’re always going to operate under the assumption that we do things to help our players execute.
Digging into the quarterback position
How do you perceive the importance of the quarterback position offensively?
Andy Kotelnicki: You can’t not have good quarterback play and win games. You can’t. Bad quarterback play is going to beat you. It’s bad football, right? So they’re a huge piece. They’re not the only piece, because you need all of it on both sides of the football all three phases to help him.
He’s the straw that stirs the drink. He’s gonna do that. We’ve got to do a good job as an offensive staff and me specifically, of making sure we’re putting our players in a position to do the things that they do the best, and use all the players and put them in a position to be on the field doing the things that they do best, and never ask them to do things that they’re not capable of doing. Saying that and doing it are two totally different things.
Have you figured out Drew Allar?
Andy Kotelnicki: Yes. I think the best thing through spring, and I brought 10 objectives in this last spring, number one was to evaluate the capabilities and limitations of the players, and I think we were able to get enough reps in competitive situations throughout the spring, enough meaningful repetition to say that we have a pretty good understanding of what everyone’s capable of. And I’m excited about it.
Is there still something to figure out, during a game, what makes him tick?
Andy Kotelnicki: So he’s having an off day today. Okay. Maybe. You could feel that and maybe alter the plan accordingly. You never want to game plan where it all falls on one position or one player. And I’ve done this before, where it’s like, ‘Hey, you got a really good running back.’ Okay, well, ‘let’s just give him the ball 34 times a game.’ Maybe that’s not going to happen.
You have to have a diverse, multifaceted gameplan to attack everyone, so that it’s not just, ‘Hey Drew Allar better be on today.’ And not being super precise. It’s not fair to him. Everyone deserves a margin of error. Everyone deserves, especially at the quarterback position, and I’ve heard people call it a smoke break. The quarterback deserves to have a smoke break every once awhile where other players help him. Not necessarily saying that he needs it or any position, I’m just saying, we want to be balanced. We want to be balanced.
People think about balance in run and pass or maybe who touches the ball and there’s distribution there. But we want to be balanced also in how much stress or responsibility relies on every position or player. It’s not fair to our left tackle to have to go out and drop back pass the entire game without any help. And what that help looks like could be different, throwing quick, or a chip or a bump or a good run game. It’s not fair. That’s like a holistic deal that you have to be able to do.
Andy Kotelnicki evaluates position groups
Sell me on these receivers. What about this group do you feel gives them that potential?
Andy Kotelnicki: Because they’re gonna be a diverse group. It’ll be a committee, most likely. But we have players that all can do certain things at a high level.
I’ll give you my philosophical deal here. You got great high school football teams, you got great pro football teams. And the thing that those two levels have in common is they have what they have on their rosters. Usually the numbers aren’t very big. NFL gets 53 or whatever it is. High School, they’re small, and they’re gonna have a limited number of college football players that are on your football team. So great high school programs, great NFL programs, they evolve, they grow, they morph, they tweak the things that they are doing, especially offensively, based off the personnel that’s on their team. Baltimore Ravens just down the road, great example. That’s who their quarterback is and they do things to make him successful. Go down to Miami, they got the Tyreke Hill. In San Francisco, they got Purdy. So the teams that are doing good, they do that.
And then you have this middle group, college. Totally overrun by systems. ‘You play left outside receiver, you play our tailback, you play the Y, you’re our slot receiver, you’re the right outside receiver and this is what our system is.’ And the system is the system and you need to fit the system. If not, don’t worry. We have 85 scholarships and 120 kids in our roster that we can find someone that will do it.
You can’t play our outside receiver left? Slide you over, make room for this guy. Oh, he can’t do it? Okay, next one. And now we’ve had the portal that makes it even more likely. Why did they do it? Because it’s easy to teach and coach. It’s easy to just not ever have to change it or evolve it. And you have all the numbers to make it okay, to make it good enough, at least in most people’s minds.
But if we’re trying to talk about winning these kinds of games that we’re talking about, you have go beyond that. I’m saying this as someone who is used to just coach speak. And it’s profound when you really think about it. And this is a relatively new observation that I’ve had. Why are people so afraid to put whatever, four receivers on the field, or three tight ends, or three running backs? Why are we afraid to do that? Because it’s so outside of the box that they feel uncomfortable.
You’ve gotten comfortable with that uncomfortability?
Andy Kotelnicki: No doubt. Because I’m really confident in myself and our staff and our ability to teach it to them. That’s why you’re not doing it. Because, honest to God, it’s easy for whoever’s coaching it to just you can only have to worry about this side. It’s easy. They don’t want to make the effort to try to do it.
God bless our teachers. If there was no standardized testing, if all they have to do is you have to tell us the dates of World War II and they pass American history, that’s great. That’s kind of what it is. But if you got to learn the dates, and you got to learn this and the presidents and you got to learn all these different curriculum, the job’s a helluva lot harder. And that’s what I’m challenging myself and our staff to be able to do.
Running backs shine
What do you like about Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen?
Andy Kotelnicki: Their film was very, very impressive. I tell you one specific guy that I just think is going to explode this year. And I hate saying this because it feels like Kaytron was kind of bouncing back from an injury in the bowl game. But Nick Singleton is really trying to diversify himself. He has done a great job of being multiple.
And I challenge all of our players to do that. Because you’re not just the tailback in our offense. You’re not just a receiver in our offense. You’re Julian Fleming, you’re Trey Wallace, you’re Omari. That’s who you are. You do what you do best and I’m gonna put you in a position to go out there and do it. I’m not gonna ask you to do things that you’re not good at. I’m just telling you, it’s a hell of a lot harder coach like that and put people out there to do it. You have worked really hard to do it, especially with your procedures and things.
And Nick has done that?
Andy Kotelnicki: He’s really worked on his ability to catch the football. He’s obviously fast. That’s on film. He’s really working on his vision and understanding. Coach Seider has done a great job of getting those guys locked in on protections and the why of what we do with him and Fat. So when you have like a running back room with depth, championship teams have that in common too. They have good line play.
You didn’t get to work with Kaytron as much in the spring, but do you have a feel for him?
Andy Kotelnicki: He’s so much more introverted than Nick. And it’s kind of funny when you talk to him. But when Kaytron starts talking to you, you can see how he gets excited about doing different things in the offense. He’s good. He’s out there running around now and stuff, he’s really good and seems to be a very natural catcher. I mean, his ability to run the football. He’s good. They’re good running backs. All the characteristics you think about good running backs, those guys have.
Andy Kotelnicki examines the offensive line
What do you think of the offensive line?
Andy Kotelnicki: I’m very pleased with their development through spring. Obviously losing three guys that were drafted in the first five rounds, you’re like… okay. But credit to Coach Traut, Coach Leonard and Sticks and Coach Q. All the guys are working with the O-line. The development that group had in the spring was really impressive. By the end of spring football, I was like, that group will be a really important piece for us.
They’re going to be really physical this fall. I want when people watch us play up front to think they’re nasty. And those guys are doing a great job of embracing that. They had that shit to him, which I love. Those coaches did a great job of developing. Because at the start of spring I was like, I’m not gonna say concerned, but I was like, ‘How good are we going to be up front?’ And then by the end of spring, I was like, ‘We got a chance to be really good up front, I think.’
The Drew Shelton’s of the world. Nick Dawkins had an unbelievable spring. Cooper Cousins came in. I shouldn’t say names because I will leave people out. Vega had an awesome spring. JB. Rucci came in and between Rucci, J’Ven and Donkoh, man, there are some guys. And I think there will be some depth there. So I think that’s going to be like a really Steady Eddie group for us. And they’re gonna get nasty. I think it’ll be awesome.
How do you develop that attitude?
Andy Kotelnicki: We recruit it, so you’re looking for it on film. Somebody who has the ability to finish. But then they emphasize it and you reward it. You coach it and you show people. Especially those guys up front because it’s your last question. You talk about the O-line, it’s always the afterthought for people. It’s just the way it is. I played that position, so I get it. And that’s why I love that position.
Our team will go as far as our offensive line will take us. And when you look at championship football teams, everyone will say it’s about the quarterback. Quarterbacks are good, but they all have great line play on both sides of the ball.
They create the conditions for success.
Andy Kotelnicki: I think we have that piece. That has to continue to develop as a group. But it’s good.
Tight ends: “Those dudes are awesome”
How about the tight ends?
Andy Kotelnicki: Ty decided to come back, which is fantastic. But then you have Dink, who’s been around in the spring and he got healthy enough to be able to perform well in the second half of spring. Hell yeah. Those two guys are fantastic. And then you’re gonna hear the names of Rappleyea. Jerry Cross. You got the whole room. Luke Reynolds has done a great job for his first spring. He’s everything as advertised. And then Joey, those dudes are awesome. That’ll be a strength.
What’s gonna be really fun for us is we’re going to be able to have a lot of diverse pieces. Here’s is what’s kind of cool. We talk about these rooms, and we’re talking about multiple names in all these rooms. That’s a good thing. We’re not just talking about one guy in this room. So that tells us we have the ability to take all these pieces and be really diverse with them.
Do you have to create a seamless, season-long identity?
Andy Kotelnicki: Oh, hell no. We can evolve week to week and year to year based off of what your players do. Everything’s gonna change. One week you could have an injury. All of a sudden this guy’s out. Okay, we can’t do this as much. It is week to week. I think one of the biggest thing is your offense should always be evolving. This is my philosophy. Week to week, year to year, season to season, based off of what you have and how you match up. You go out there and this team doesn’t do this. They do that well. They avoid this. That’s the ‘chess match.’ And that’s what we want to play because we have different chess pieces that we can use. We don’t have to just go out there with two rooks and two knights. We could decide to go out there with four rooks and no knights. You have two kings. That’s the fun stuff that we have.
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