New Penn State football offensive coordinator among highest paid in the country

When Mike Yurcich was relieved of his duties towards the end of the 2023 season, many fans were excited for something new on offense. This also meant that James Franklin had to swing for the fences. As this would be the Nittany Lions‘ third offensive coordinator in five seasons. Kirk Ciarrocca was in Happy Valley for the 2020 season. Then Yurcich took the reins for 2021 until November of 2023. Now, Penn State will rely on Andy Kotelnicki to get the job done on offense. The former Kansas Jayhawk OC was recently listed as one of the highest-paid offensive coordinators in the country in 2024.

New Penn State football offensive coordinator among highest paid

Heading into the 2024 season Notre Dame has the highest-paid offensive coordinator in Mike Denbrock, according to PFF College. Denbrock is slated to make $2.1 million this fall. If that name does sound familiar to you, he most recently led to LSU Tigers’ offense and helped Jayden Daniels win the Heisman Trophy last season.

Not far down the list, you will find Penn State football OC Andy Kotelnicki. Tied for the fifth highest-paid OC, Kotelnicki is scheduled to make $1.6 million in 2024. More than Mike Bobo at Georgia and Will Stein at Oregon. In order for Penn State to be successful this fall, Kotelnicki will have to elevate the offense and get the most out of Drew Allar.

Highest Paid Offensive Coordinators in College Football💰 pic.twitter.com/2eMkMJtofE

— PFF College (@PFF_College) May 23, 2024

Kotelnicki is worth every penny on paper

As a fan of Penn State, it’s difficult to get a great feel for Kotelnicki after watching the Blue-White Game in April. The gusty winds and the vanilla play-calling did not give the public the best of what he has to offer as a coordinator. But there’s an old saying that applies here. Men lie, women lie, numbers don’t.

Explosive plays were missing from the 2023 Nittany Lions. The lack of deep shots or explosive pass plays made games difficult to watch at times. During the past few seasons at Kansas, Kotelnicki helped the Jayhawks rank 12th in the country in explosive plays. He also helped Kansas rank 10th in the country in pass players over 15 yards down the field.

In 2023 alone Kansas racked up 5799 yards of total offense. 3121 of those yards came in the air while the remaining 2678 yards came on the ground. Kotelnicki will find a way to get the most out of Drew Allar, Nick Singleton, and Kaytron Allen as the three Nittany Lions enter their third year in Happy Valley.

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