New OC Andy Kotelnicki shares powerful reason why he took Penn State football job

There usually aren’t victories inside Beaver Stadium in the middle of December (although that could change with the expanded College Football Playoff). But down the tunnel in the stadium’s media room, new Penn State football offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki certainly won his introductory press conference Friday. Whether it was Ted Lasso references or comparing the Nittany Lions offense to Dairy Queen blizzards, Kotelnicki displayed a charisma that was hard to ignore. And while his persona may have won the afternoon at Peach Bowl media day, it’s Kotelnicki’s heartfelt story of why he came to Happy Valley that will win over the Penn State football faithful.

Andy Kotelnicki has been a Penn State football fan since childhood

There are plenty of reasons why Andy Kotelnicki decided to leave Kansas to become the next offensive coordinator at Penn State. But during his introductory press conference at Peach Bowl media day Friday, Kotelnicki explained that it was an off-chance gift growing up as a child in the small hockey community of Litchfield, Minnesota, that forged a lifelong connection with the Nittany Lions.

“I’m five, or six, or seven years old, and my mom brings home a football helmet,” Kotelnicki said. “I know what football is; my family weren’t college football players by any means. We didn’t grow up cheering for whoever. But there’s this white helmet with a blue stripe. Sometime in the next year, I see, either on TV or in the paper, that there’s a college football team wearing that same helmet. It’s Penn State. Didn’t know anything about it, but I immediately became a Penn State fan because they had the same helmet that I would put on running into trees and things like that [as a kid].”

“So, if you were to talk to my high school buddies or even small college buddies, they would tell you that I was a Penn State fan growing up,” he continued. “I remember, of course, I played O-line, but I remember thinking that I was Curtis Enis running around in the mid-’90s, even though that was certainly not my future.”

New Penn State OC Andy Kotelnicki says he was a Penn State football fan since he was a kid in Minnesota and got a white football helmet with a blue stripe. The story, well-told: pic.twitter.com/zjQed7MDTJ

— Mike Poorman (@PSUPoorman) December 15, 2023

Not taking this opportunity lightly

While an endearing story, Andy Kotelnicki expressed his connection to Penn State football brings an additional layer of personal expectations with it.

“So I’m sharing that story with you so that you understand that I’m not taking this opportunity lightly,” Kotelnicki said. “It’s a big-time honor for me to sit up here today and get a chance to interact with this fanbase, this family. It’s something that if you asked me when I started coaching college football where I wanted to coach, I would’ve said this school.”

While he won’t call plays for the Nittany Lions during the Peach Bowl on December 30, Kotelnicki has already started to become acquainted with his new team. The new Penn State offensive coordinator has already met with Drew Allar and other Nittany Lions multiple times, a process that will continue throughout bowl prep. 

“I think it’s been really good,” James Franklin said of Kotelnicki’s transition on Friday. “I love this model of being able to bring guys in and allow them to kind of get a feel for the culture and the program and the structure and the organization and the personnel and all those types of things and then be able to hit the ground running.”

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