Kansas offense could be just scratching the surface after keeping talented OC

By Shane Jackson Dec 27, 2022

Nick Krug

Kansas quarterback Jalon Daniels (6) bumps fists with Kansas wide receiver Quentin Skinner (83) after running in a touchdown during the first quarter on Friday, Sept. 2, 2022 at Memorial Stadium.

In today’s era of college football, the only thing fans have come to expect is turnover and transition. Players are hitting the transfer portal in hopes of landing in a better situation. Coaches are taking bigger jobs with more money and more resources.

That’s what makes Andy Kotelnicki’s decision to stay in Lawrence particularly meaningful. The offensive coordinator for the Kansas football team signed a contract extension earlier this month, keeping him at KU through the end of the 2027 season. It is believed to be the longest contract for an assistant coach in college football, according to this report from Football Scoop.

“I’m very fortunate and blessed to be here for as long as I will be now,” Kotelnicki said. “This place so desperately needed some consistency. For the administration and a coach to recognize that, and basically value me being around enough to do that for as long as we will, should indicate how everyone believes about this program and where it is going.”

It was clear early on in the 2022 season that Kotelnicki is different. And, in many ways, he is responsible for KU’s first bowl berth since 2008 after guiding the Kansas offense heights not seen since Mark Mangino and Ed Warinner left town following the 2009 season.

After operating several different offensive systems under multiple head coaches and nearly 10 different offensive coordinators during the past 14 seasons, Kansas finally found the right combination of consistency and production under Kotenicki in 2022.

Chance Parker/Journal-World photo

KU offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki calls out directions to the offense during practice on Aug. 4, 2022.

The Jayhawks ranked ninth in the nation with an average of 6.7 yards per play during a 6-6 regular season, according to TeamRankings. KU averaged 32.2 points per contest, which was good for 29th in the country, ranked 10th with an average of 5.3 yards per rushing attempt, while simultaneously averaging 8.6 yards per passing attempt to rank ninth in the country.

It is safe to say KU’s offensive players have flourished under Kotelnicki thus far, and it’s clear that they’re excited to have hear he’s sticking around to continue to push the offense to grow.

“It means a lot,” quarterback Jalon Daniels said. “It means that we are able to continue doing what we’re doing. We’ve had a lot of success with what we are doing, so being able to have a big emphasis on being able to keep on improving with that offense, it means a lot for us because we don’t have to restart.”

“He’s the type of guy that when he sticks with something, he’s going to stick with something for the long run,” running back Devin Neal added of Kotelnicki. “I just think he loves the group of guys that he has on offense, and we definitely love what he’s able to do with his creativity.”

The best part of Kotelnicki’s offense is that it is both simple and complex. He explained in his hour-long breakdown on CoachTube, called “Distorting the Defense with RPOs,” that he prefers to simplify things for the quarterback. On a typical RPO play, the quarterback is usually only reading one defender and that player is identified before the snap.

At the same time, Kotelnicki will utilize a lot of motion to help gauge what the defense is doing prior to the snap. In an era of spread formations, Kotelnicki elects to use a lot of tight ends in his personnel. He isn’t afraid to have multiple quarterbacks on the field at the same time, which happened to be Daniels’ favorite play of this season thus far.

“The Houston game, where he had me and (Jason) Bean in,” Daniels recalled. “I didn’t take the snap, Devin Neal took the snap, and handed it off to me. I fake reversed it to Bean, and threw it to Jared Casey for the touchdown.”

Those types of plays might become even more evolved in the future, as this past fall was only Year 2 in this system. With Kotelnicki now in Lawrence for the long haul, this offense could show even more growth by having a level of continuity the KU program has lacked for the last decade.

Kotelnicki was one of 51 coaches nominated for the Broyles Award, which is given to the top assistant in college football each year. And there’s no doubt that he was going to garner plenty of interest from other programs this offseason after an impressive 2022 campaign.

KU coach Lance Leipold admitted to the media that it wasn’t the first time other programs have tried to pry away Kotelnicki from his staff. Leipold said his offensive coordinator was offered other opportunities when they were both coaching at Buffalo, but they have remained coaching together since 2013, when they were at Wisconsin-Whitewater.

While that relationship likely played a part in Kotelnicki’s decision to say, the main reason the offensive coordinator is staying put is because of what has transpired in Lawrence over the last year — as well as what is left to accomplish.

“It has brought me a lot of joy in rebuilding things,” Kotelnicki said.

Now that he has committed to Kansas for the foreseeable future, the next step might be building on top of the foundation he helped create, which once again has Kansas football known for its entertaining and explosive offense.