James Franklin talks new OC Andy Kotelnicki, transfer portal & more after Peach Bowl bid

Penn State head coach James Franklin spoke to the media Sunday afternoon after it was announced that he and the Nittany Lions will take on the Ole Miss Rebels in the Peach Bowl on Dec. 30.

Here are the key points from Franklin, including why the new offensive coordinator hire was made and thoughts on the transfer portal.

Why Kotelnicki fits

Franklin was able to gain a time advantage in the offensive coordinator market by making the decision to fire Mike Yurcich in the middle of November and found his new hire before championship weekend. Andy Kotelnicki was officially hired away from Kansas on Dec. 1 and was named the new offensive coordinator at Penn State. Franklin said he’s known Kotelnicki for a number of years and that played a role in why he was the right choice.

“I’ve got a ton of respect for what they did at the University of Buffalo as well as what they did at Kansas. Two places that can be tough to win at,” Franklin said. “They were able to do it. I’ve got a ton of respect for Lance (Leipold), his head coach. Those two guys have been together for 11 years. Did a lot of film study, did a lot of research. Him and Lance had visited us a couple times, so we were able to develop a relationship over a period of time.”

Franklin has frequently mentioned the ability and want to collaborate when it comes to his offensive coordinator since Yurcich was fired, saying that there was an increase in collaboration over the final two weeks.

It stands to reason that he would want Kotelnicki to be ready and willing to work with the rest of the offensive staff rather than isolating himself. Franklin said the process helped that cause.

“Just discussions that we’ve had. Me and Andy have talked, gosh I don’t know how many times and for how many hours,” Franklin said about why he’s convinced the new hire will be collaborative. “... For him to leave a program and a guy that he’d been with for 11 years and had a very, very secure contract, he had to feel good about what he was joining. And I needed to make sure and be thorough in what we were getting. I think the last two weeks of the season have shown that we have a really good staff. Obviously on defense and on special teams, but on offense. I thought our co-coordinators in Ja’Juan Seider and Ty Howle, as well as the rest of the offensive staff and (graduate assistants) and analysts did a really good job. I thought we played really well the last two weeks of the year. So I wanted to make sure that if we brought somebody in, that it was somebody that was going to use those resources — that manpower, that experience that we had in the Lasch Building — and take advantage of it. I also think that’s important to my guys. They want to feel like they have a voice. They want to feel like they have a say.”

How the new OC will spend December

Kotelnicki will have his own advantage by getting hired so soon after the season ended. The offensive coordinator will be able to join the staff and get to know the program, the staff and the players that he’ll have to put in a position to succeed next season. There is now ample opportunity for him to do so and one of the current staff members — defensive coordinator Manny Diaz — had the same head start.

“Him developing relationships and him being able to get a feel for our players — our strengths, our weaknesses — getting 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 is really important,” Franklin said. “This is a valuable time. 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 gonna need to do that again.”

The next month will give him that head start, but once it’s over he’ll take the reins — as Franklin said — and it is not currently clear what position, if any, he will be responsible for coaching. Yurcich was the quarterbacks coach along with being the offensive coordinator, but Kotelnicki did not coach the QBs at Kansas.

Franklin said the details on what his new OC’s positional responsibilities are still being discussed. The head coach made it clear, though, that his hire will be in control of his own unit.

“I think Andy, like he did at Kansas, is really gonna 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 gonna allow him to float (over the next month), almost like an NFL coordinator in some ways.”

Roster changes

The firing of Yurcich and hiring of Kotelnicki is the first staff turnover of the offseason, but it is far from the only personnel changes that will happen this year. The transfer portal opened Monday for all players in college football and it would be a shock if Penn State didn’t have incoming and outgoing players this offseason. That’s not a statement about the program, but rather about the state of the sport.

Franklin gave his own not-so-subtle thoughts on the portal opening on Dec. 4.

“Well the transfer portal is open (Dec. 4) for us and legally, but for a lot of people it’s been open for a while. ... Which is concerning,” he said.

The Nittany Lions will be one of many high-end programs looking for players that can help it try to reach the College Football Playoff when it expands to 12 teams next year, with several needs on the roster. Franklin said any additions will be a fit more than just on the field.

“We’ll look into it,” he said. “It’s best players available. We’re trying to create the most competitive roster that we possibly can. Our players understand that. We told them that when we recruited them, whether it’s high school players or whether it’s transfer portal guys, we just want to create as much competition as we possibly can in the locker room and go from there. That’s really what we’re looking for is best players available and obviously guys that are the best fits for our locker room and our campus and community.”

Those additions and subtractions will affect the team next season — with the latter impacting the team for the bowl as well — but there could be key players who sit out the Peach Bowl to protect their future interests. The Nittany Lions have multiple players who could be first round picks, with OT Olu Fashanu, DE Chop Robinson and CB Kalen King all being projected in that range at some point over the last year.

While the potential for opt-outs exists, Franklin said those discussions have not happened yet.

“Those things really kind of have not been decided,” he said. “There are ongoing conversations with parents and players and those types of things. Obviously we’re always trying to create an environment and a situation where we have none. But we’ll see how that plays out.”