Before coaching his first game at Penn State, new OC Andy Kotelnicki has already displayed his sense of humor on plenty of occasions.Â
The latest example of that took place Tuesday evening during a post-practice media availability.
A reporter asked Kotelnicki what the overall state of Penn State’s offense is less than three weeks out from the season opener in Morgantown against West Virginia.
“That’s a good question,” Kotelnicki said. “The state of the offense.”
“I wish I had some sort of presidential writer, you know what I mean,” Kotelnicki said, an obvious reference to the “State of the Union” address.
“Half would cheer, half would boo, one of those kinds of things.”
Then, he got serious.
“I’ve been pleased,” he said, “and I’ve commented before about how I just care that our guys are getting better every day, and that is evident. We are definitely a better football team from the very first practice I was part of in the spring to now. In every one of those, we’ve had growth.”
Kotelnicki knows the offense and the players in it are “never going to be perfect.”
“I think it’s very natural for us as coaches to be critical and never be satisfied,” he said. “I think that’s why we’re sitting in the chairs that we do, so I don’t know that we’re ever going to leave a game or a practice and be like, ‘gosh, that was perfect.’ But I am pleased because the mistakes that we make we’re correcting. Everyone is coachable and willing to grow.”
Head coach James Franklin is pleased, too, and cited two veteran receivers as players who have stuck out.
“I think the biggest thing is Trey (Wallace) and Liam (Clifford) have really had a nice camp,” Franklin said, “and whether it’s the coaches or whether it’s defensive players or whether it’s (defensive coordinator) Tom Allen in a team meeting today talking about the receivers improvement, but specifically Tre and Liam, I think it’s been pretty good. I think they’ve been probably the biggest difference.”
Franklin also mentioned quarterbacks Drew Allar and Beau Pribula as players who are “really doing some good things” and feels runningbacks Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen are “playing with a ton of confidence.”
Behind those two, Franklin said Penn State is banged up at RB.
“The third back, we’ve had some bumps and bruise,” Franklin said, “so I haven’t really had a chance to make any decisions on a third back yet, that’s still a big question mark to be determined, not really like we’re not sure if we have a third back, it’s just who is it going to be at this point.”
Last season, offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich didn’t even last the full 13 games, being fired in early November. For Penn State to reach its team goals in 2024, the offense will need to consistently click.
