James Franklin: Peach Bowl prep is ‘valuable’ time for Andy Kotelnicki, Penn State offense

It’s been a busy few days for the Penn State football program. The Nittany Lions started the weekend by announcing the hire of Andy Kotelnicki as offensive coordinator, and finished by accepting a Peach Bowl invitation on Sunday afternoon. The next 27 days will be a period of transition before the No. 10 Nittany Lions face off against the No. 11 Ole Miss Rebels in Atlanta. But this month will be, in the words of James Franklin, a “valuable” time for Kotelnicki and the Penn State offense. This evening, Franklin discussed what his new offensive coordinator needs to accomplish during the Nittany Lions’ New Year’s Six Bowl prep.

What is the most important thing for the new Penn State offensive coordinator to accomplish during Peach Bowl prep?

Sunday night, James Franklin spoke to the media following the announcement that Penn State football will take on Ole Miss in the 2023 Peach Bowl.

However, the questions for Franklin were centered less on the Rebels or the New Year’s Six Bowl matchup and more about the decision to hire new offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki from Kansas on Friday.

But Franklin did discuss how Kotelnicki will factor into the Peach Bowl preparations over the next month. The new Penn State offensive coordinator will be less active in game planning. Instead, Kotelnicki will spend time acclimating to the program’s culture and Penn State’s personnel.

“Him developing relationships and him being able to get a feel for our players, our strengths, our weaknesses [is important],” Franklin said. “Get a feel for our staff, strengths, and weaknesses, and for him to see how we operate, how we’re organized, what the culture is like, and build as many relationships with the players as possible, including the quarterbacks. I think it’s really important.”

James Franklin noted that this is a similar approach to the one taken two years ago when Penn State football hired Manny Diaz as defensive coordinator, which has worked wonders for the Nittany Lions.

“This is a valuable time,” he expressed. “I thought it was really valuable for how we did it with Manny and allowed him and us to hit the ground running. And we’re going to need to do that again.”

Franklin thinks Andy Kotelnicki will operate like an NFL coordinator

Andy Kotelnicki will take a more hands-off approach with the Nittany Lions ahead of the Peach Bowl. But James Franklin says once the New Year’s Six Bowl matchup versus Ole Miss is over, the Penn State offense is all his.

Although he wasn’t ready to go into detail about the specific coaching assignments for 2024, Franklin discussed the high-level philosophy that he thinks Kotelnicki will bring next fall.

“I think number one, Andy, like he did at Kansas, is really going to approach this like the head coach of the offense,” Franklin said. “And he’s had experience really coaching almost every position on offense, and coordinating from every position on offense, which I think is also going to allow him to float, almost like an NFL coordinator in some way. So again, we’ll see how that plays out.”

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