Andy Kotelnicki Should Be Done at Penn State

Penn State’s trip to Columbus confirmed what had already become clear. The offense has lost direction and belief. The system designed by offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki has drained the confidence of a young roster. The plays lack rhythm, purpose, and timing. The Nittany Lions are now 3-5, winless in Big Ten play, and desperate for a sign of life.

This is not a mid-season slump. It is a full-blown identity crisis. Every week looks the same. The same horizontal screens and flat deliveries, same failed misdirection, and same absence of vertical threat. Opposing defenses do not fear this offense, and the numbers back that up.

Same Problems, Worse Results

Misuse of Talent Defines the Offense

The talent on this roster is not the problem. Koby Howard and Tyseer Denmark can stretch the field and change a game. Yet the offensive scheme rarely features the young skill players who could alter outcomes. Howard played just seven snaps against Ohio State, targeted once. It was the team’s longest gain of the day, a 26-yard catch. Denmark saw only one snap.

That usage reflects the larger issue. Kotelnicki’s personnel choices and formations show no plan to highlight speed or vertical threat. Receivers catch passes behind the line instead of on the move. The quarterback throws sideways while defenses collapse on the perimeter. It’s the kind of predictable offense that good teams devour.

No Identity, No Leadership

Good coordinators build rhythm and provide clarity. Kotelnicki builds clutter. His unit has scored only two offensive touchdowns in the last two Big Ten games. The tempo is slow, the spacing narrow, and the creativity extremely forced. Even when freshman quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer found brief success attacking the middle, the coordinator abandoned it. The offense drifted back to the same short throws that never move the chains.

Penn State fans have seen enough. This is not about growing pains. It is about coaching that refuses to adapt.

Precedent for Change Already Exists

When LSU fired Brian Kelly earlier this season, the school wasted no time removing offensive coordinator Joe Sloan as well. The message was clear. When leadership collapses, accountability must reach every level. Penn State sits in that same place now. With the head coach gone, the coordinator becomes the symbol of what went wrong over the entirety of the first eight games.

Firing Kotelnicki now would not be reactionary. It would be responsible. Programs that aspire to national relevance do not let coordinators finish lost seasons while the roster fractures. Doing so signals weakness and indecision. If Penn State moves forward, it must protect its future. The administration should focus on keeping Howard, Denmark, Anthony Donkoh, and Cooper Cousins on offense, and Tony Rojas and Chaz Coleman on defense. Coleman led Penn State with a 90.6 PFF grade against Ohio State. On his way toward the tunnel after the game, he looked dejected as an Ohio State staffer stopped to console him. That moment should concern Penn State fans, because Coleman is from Ohio and well known by coaches in that program. These players are the foundation for any new coach. Losing them would push the rebuild back years.

The offensive players need to know their efforts are not being wasted in a broken system. Keeping Kotelnicki sends the opposite message.

Give Danny O’Brien the Offense

If Kotelnicki is dismissed, quarterbacks coach Danny O’Brien should assume play-calling duties for the rest of the season. He works directly with Grunkemeyer and should understand how to simplify the plan for a young quarterback. The offense needs to take an approach that would emphasize timing, accuracy, rhythm, and the establishment of vertical threats instead of gimmicks.

An interim staff can only control so much. But one move still sends the right message. Remove the coordinator who has failed to meet even basic offensive standards. Doing so will not solve everything, but it will stop the bleeding. The players deserve a leader who believes in attacking, not hiding.

What’s Left to Lose

Penn State’s season is over. The administration should be praying it does not make a bowl game, because at this rate, the roster might not have enough players to compete in one. With so many graduating seniors and underclassmen likely to hit the transfer portal in early December, the program faces a deeper crisis than any box score can show.

Keeping Kotelnicki would only accelerate that slide. His offense has drained confidence, wasted talent, and fractured trust inside the locker room. The fix is simple. Remove him and hand the play-calling to O’Brien for the rest of the year. That move would at least restore direction and give young players a reason to stay.

Penn State’s leadership has to act before the exodus begins. The Penn State offense crisis will not correct itself. The coordinator’s tenure must end now, before the roster does.