James Franklin and Penn State are reportedly closing in on a prominent Power 5 assistant for the open offensive coordinator position. The target for the vacancy is a current OC with deep ties to Kansas head coach Lance Leipold.

According to college football insider Bruce Feldman, the Nittany Lions are “expected” to hire Kansas OC Andy Kotelnicki for the same post at Penn State. He has produced strong results as the OC for the Jayhawks since 2021 and is a longtime assistant for Leipold.

Kotelnicki is from Minnesota and played college football in Wisconsin before eventually joining Leipold’s Wisconsin-Whitewater staff in 2013 as the OC. He has since been Leipold’s OC across stops at Buffalo (2015-20) and Kansas (2021-present).

According to Kansas’ staff directory, Kotelnicki’s offense finished second nationally with 7 yards per play in the 2022 season. The Jayhawks also averaged 438.6 yards per game, the second-best mark for the program since 1950, with 63 total touchdowns.

One interesting wrinkle is that Kotelnicki has never had the designation as a QB coach during his time as an OC. Former Penn State OC Mike Yurcich held the dual OC/QB coach titles during his 3-year tenure, as did Kirk Ciarrocca during his lone season with the Nittany Lions in 2020.

That could mean an additional move to Franklin’s staff is coming if Kotelnicki is indeed finalized as the OC, but Kotelnicki certainly has a nack for guiding a strong offense.