LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas football head coach Lance Leipold announced Friday that Andy Kotelnicki, the leader of some of the most prolific offenses in school history, will return to the Jayhawks’ coaching staff for the 2026 season. With 21 years of coaching experience, including three seasons at Kansas, Kotelnicki will serve as the Jayhawks’ Associate Head Coach.
Kotelnicki rejoins the Jayhawks, where he served as offensive coordinator in 2021-22 and associate head coach/offensive coordinator in 2023. Kotelnicki and Kansas head coach Lance Leipold worked together for 11 seasons at Kansas, Buffalo and UW-Whitewater.
The veteran coach spent the past two seasons at Penn State, helping lead the Nittany Lions to a win in the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl and a semifinal appearance in the 2024 College Football Playoff. Under his direction, the Nittany Lions consistently ranked among the nation’s top offenses, leading the country in first downs (367) and explosive plays of more than 10 yards (253) in 2024. This past season, Kotelnicki helped Penn State to four straight wins to close out the season and a victory in the Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl.
“We are excited to welcome Andy and his family back to Lawrence,” head coach Lance Leipold said. “Andy is familiar with our staff and culture, has run successful offenses for nearly two decades, and his experience over the past two seasons at Penn State will add to our program in a variety of ways. Having worked with Andy for 11 years, I’m looking forward to him rejoining this current staff as associate head coach.”
In his three seasons with the Jayhawks, Kotelnicki helped Kansas to back-to-back bowl appearances for just the second time in school history, including appearances in the 2022 AutoZone Liberty Bowl and the 2023 Guaranteed Rate Bowl, while the offensive production at KU reached new heights. The 2022 and 2023 teams are two of the three highest scoring offenses in program history with the 2022 squad averaging 35.6 points per game and the 2023 team averaging 34.8. In 2022, the Jayhawks averaged 7.0 yards per play, which established a new school record that still stands.
“I care deeply about the University of Kansas, and my family and I are thrilled to be back at a university that has been so good to us” Kotelnicki said. “Working alongside Coach Leipold has been one of the highlights of my career, and I’m excited to rejoin him and the entire staff at KU. I’m very grateful to Coach, Athletic Director Travis Goff and Chancellor Doug Girod for welcoming us back. I can’t wait to get to work.”
The 2023 247Sports Offensive Coordinator of the Year while at Kansas, Kotelnicki led a KU offense ranking seventh in the nation in yards per completion (14.8), eighth in yards per play (7.0), rushing (211.3), yards per rush (5.51) and explosive play percentage (17.2), and ninth in first down efficiency percentage (56.4) and rushing touchdowns per game (2.5).
In 2022, Kotelnicki oversaw one of the prolific offensive attacks in KU school history. Kansas averaged 7.0 yards per play that season, ranking second nationally behind Ohio State (7.60). Kansas’ 7.0 yards per play also broke the program record of 6.40 set in 1950. Kansas had 41 plays of 31-plus yards throughout the 2022 season, which ranked seventh nationally.
In his first season with the Jayhawks, Kansas saw marked improvements in several key offensive categories. The Jayhawks averaged 324.2 yards per game, after averaging 259.2 yards in 2020. The offensive line allowed just 16 sacks in 12 games after surrendering 47 in nine games the season before Kotelnicki arrived.
Prior to his arrival at Kansas, Kotelnicki directed some of the best offenses in school history at the University of Buffalo, alongside Leipold.
In 2020, Kotelnicki was named one of four finalists for the FootballScoop Offensive Coordinator of the Year Award. The Bulls went 6-1 and averaged school records of 478.4 yards of total offense and 287.4 rushing yards per contest. UB ranked second in the nation in rushing (287.4) and fifth in scoring at 43.5 points per game. Bulls All-American running back Jaret Patterson led the nation in rushing, averaging 178.7 yards per game in 2020.
In 2019, under Kotelnicki, the Buffalo offense ranked 10th in the nation in rushing, tallying 3,256 yards, shattering the single-season school record. Patterson rushed for a school-record 1,799 yards and 19 touchdowns in 2019 and ranked fifth in the nation in rushing, while Kevin Marks rushed for 1,035 yards – marking the first time in school history UB had two 1,000-yard rushers in the same season.
Buffalo featured a record-breaking offense in 2018, setting single-season school records for total offense (5,803 yards) and offensive touchdowns (64) with quarterback Tyree Jackson being named the 2018 MAC Offensive Player of the Year – the first time in school history a Buffalo player won the award.
Buffalo’s offense made significant progress under Kotelnicki in 2017, ranking sixth in the nation in most improved scoring offense, sixth in most improved passing offense and eighth in fewest turnovers.
Prior to Buffalo, Kotelnicki spent two seasons at Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he won two national championships under Leipold and went 30-0 overall as offensive coordinator and recruiting coordinator.
The Warhawks led the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) in scoring (40.1), rushing (218.2) and passing (269.5) in 2014 and paced the WIAC and ranked among the top five in the nation in first downs (311), interceptions allowed (1) and turnover margin (+2.3) in 2013.
Prior to Whitewater, Kotelnicki served as offensive coordinator at the University of Mary, an NCAA Division II school in Bismarck, North Dakota, for two seasons.
Kotelnicki spent six seasons as an assistant coach at UW-River Falls, including four as offensive coordinator, in 2003 and from 2006-10. The Falcons set 24 offensive school records during his second stint, and he was promoted to assistant head coach for the 2010 campaign.
Kotelnicki also worked at Western Illinois, where he coached tight ends, special teams and the offensive line, from 2004-06. He was also an assistant strength and conditioning coach from 2004-05 and the interim strength and conditioning coach in 2006.
Kotelnicki and his wife, Lindsey return to Lawrence with their son, Max, and daughter, Joy.
