Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - REUNION: Andy Kotelnicki RETURNS to Kansas Football as Associate Head Coach - Will He Call Plays?

Starting point is 00:00:00 He's officially back in Lawrence. Huge, great news for KU. Andy Kodlnicki is back with Kansas. You are Locked on Jayhawks, your daily podcast on the Kansas Jayhawks. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. What's going on, Derek Jr.? This is Locked on Jayhawks. Thanks for making it your first listen every day.

Starting point is 00:00:29 And thank you, every day. We're catching each and every episode. Thank you for making locked on the number one sports podcast network. On this bonus episode of the show, Andy Codlnicki is officially back to KU. It is huge news for Kansas. It's been a little bit of some bleak news recently in the transfer portal with some exits, which we'll get to at the end of this show. But this is great news with Codalnicki, the former KU offense coordinator,

Starting point is 00:00:50 when they had so much success returning to Lawrence. So we'll break down the news, getting the thoughts on this. There hasn't been like an official tag on what his role. with the coaching staff is going to be, so I want to kind of break that down as well on today's episode of the show. Let's just start right here, though. The news of the day, this was reported earlier by Ross Dellinger, said former Penn State offensive coordinator, Andy Kodlnicki is returning to Kansas as associate head coach. Sources tell Yahoo Sports. During his first stop at KU, Codolnicki transformed the offense into one of the nation's best. Now, obviously,

Starting point is 00:01:21 Cotelnicki was somebody who became the offense coordinator under Lance Lighthold and then was the offensive coordinator through his days at Buffalo. He comes with Lance to the job at Kansas, has all sorts of success. You look at what they did in 2022, where by some of the different metrics, right, if you look at like ESP and FBI and offensive efficiency, basically a top 15, top 20 offense in the country for back-to-back seasons in 2022 and 2023, helps KU go to back-to-back bowl games. And then he leaves after the 2023 season gets bigger pay, gets a bigger job at Penn State to be their offensive coordinator. It wasn't for Kansas trying. They tried to bring him back on a big contract, but, you know, kind of a, like, it seemed to work out in the first year for Codolniki there,

Starting point is 00:02:06 right? Like, he goes over there, their first year there, by some of the metrics, they top 10 offense in the country, if not top five. And they go to the college football playoff semifinals. And if not for a couple bad interceptions by Drew Aller, maybe they're in the college football playoff championship game against Ohio State. So really successful. first year, then year two, not as successful. James Franklin ends up getting fired. And yes, the offense took a step back. You could also point to, like, I don't know how much of that was on Kodalnicki.

Starting point is 00:02:37 I mean, there's the abrupt nature of your head coach getting fired. Their quarterback, Drew Aller, out for the season. There was a lot of things working against Kodlnicki there on the offensive end of the football. He continued to be with him in the bowl game, though, and they look pretty good against Clemson and the bull win for their. So this is a big move because Kodalniki was there when Kansas was at their peak, was having their most success on the offensive end of the football. And it's not just that when Kodlniki was there,

Starting point is 00:03:07 it's that when Kodlnicki, and Zabrowski were kind of teamed together on the offensive end of the football. And now you have all three of them back. Now we got to hear from both coaches who they released a press release at KU kind of confirming this news. Lance Leipold said, we are excited to welcome Andy and his family back to Lawrence. Andy's familiar with our staff and cultures, run successful offenses for nearly two decades, and his experience over the past two seasons at Penn State will add to a program in a variety of ways.

Starting point is 00:03:33 Having worked with Andy for 11 years, I'm looking forward to him rejoining the current staff as associate head coach. Andy Codalnicki said, I care deeply about the University of Kansas and my family and I are thrilled to be back at the university that has been so good to us. 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 Gerard for welcoming us back. I can't wait to get to work.

Starting point is 00:03:59 And again, the interesting part here, you go back to the Ross Delinger report, naming him associate head coach, right? The interesting part here is with, you know, was he going to get any offensive coordinator jobs? Is this something where is KU moving him to offense coordinator and they have some shuffling to do with guys like Zabrowski and Lubick? I want to get into that next. Like, what exactly is the role here for KU? I think regardless, this is a good hire for KU, just getting him back in the brain trust, getting him back for the offensive brain trust here. That's good news for KU.

Starting point is 00:04:30 But the level of how good this is, I want to see him call in play. So let's get to that role next. Today's episode of the show is brought to you by Fandual Sportsbook. Maybe you're feeling a little bit better about what Kansas is over-under will be for next season. You'll be able to bet on that soon when the college football season ends. But for now, Fridays already feel different during basketball season. Fanduel is making them even better. Every Friday night before the games tip off,

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Starting point is 00:06:01 So like I said, we heard associate head coach. I think it's going to be interesting what the full tagging and what the titling and everything is going to be with this, right, for Codonti. I think like I said, regardless, I think this is a good move for KU just to, at the very least, just to have somebody else have a good mind in on the offensive game. plan to have a good mind around the program. So even if he's not offensive coordinator, I think this is good for KU, right? But I think it's even better if he is the offensive coordinator because I do think there were some things that I just think, I guess I'd put it this way.

Starting point is 00:06:34 I think he's the best offensive coordinator that KU now has on staff. And if we're just talking about that. Now, the awkward part of this is if you did hire him to be offensive coordinator, there is certain things you have to deal with with Jim Sprowski, with Matt Lubick, or the co-offensive coordinators. Is it possible to have three co-offensive coordinators where you just promote him to co and he's the one calling the plays? To me, here's my thing. This is a cutthroat business of college football. And at the end of the day, you can bring in a player to challenge somebody else to be a starter because you're like, well, we want to see if we can upgrade that position. Why can't you do the same as the coaches? These are all adults. I get it. It's uncomfortable, but they're making good money to be

Starting point is 00:07:11 able to deal with this. And so if you find a better option, bring him in, like, keep the pay the same for Zabrowski and Lubick, but just have him be the quarterbacks and the, you know, we'll see if Lubick stays as the tight end coach or, you know, does he move to a different position and do you have Kotelnicki be the tight end coach where he was at KU and he was having success because that's one thing too, like KU had a lot of success with the tight ends the first time he was here. Like Jared Casey's most yards and touchdowns in a season came when Andy Kodalnicki was the offensive coordinator. Mason Fairtrop went from being a guy who in 2019, 58.7 PFF grade, 48 and run blocking in 2020, 50 PFF grade, 49 in run blocking to three years under

Starting point is 00:07:54 Andy Cohn Lake with Mason Fairchild putting up huge yard totals. And in his last two years, 68 and 70 PFF grades respectively with the run blocking grades going up, with the past blocking grades skying up, like the tight end position got a lot better. The tight end position blocked better for KU and Andy Cohn Lake was here. So does it make sense to move him to tight ends? Does it make sense to have him on the offensive line? Right. Like it feels like since Scott Fooks left. Like maybe there's been a bit step back. I do think a little of that is overblown. I think some of that is like I think Scott Fuchs was an unbelievable offensive line coach. So, you know, I do think Daryl like Paulsa has probably gotten a little too much heat because I think some of it is personnel based.

Starting point is 00:08:33 Like when you don't have all big 12 or like pros like Dom Poonie on the roster, it's not going to look as good. Now I do think Fuchs is part of that and setting those guys out, but maybe that's where Codalnicki can come in. And so I think that'll be kind of interesting. What position is he working on? We know the associate head coach. And that probably comes with a good, it's a good title. It probably comes with a good amount of money to bring him back to Kansas. The other title that's going to be of interest, is there any title of like head coach and waiting tag to come back here, right?

Starting point is 00:09:03 And then the other part of this is where that specific role is is probably pretty determining for how long he's going to stay in his return to Kansas. If he just came back as associate head coach and it's basically like, hey, the offensive coordinator jobs didn't line up for me this offseason after the Penn State situation. I'm looking for a job this year before I can re-hit the market next year, right? And then you bring him on as a coach who can help you. And again, it's a positive for KU just having that mind in there. But it's not as big of a positive if he's the one calling the plays. And so that's where this is going to be very interesting to me. Because if he isn't the offense coordinator, he's going to be looking for an offense coordinator job after the one season.

Starting point is 00:09:50 He's at KAU, right? So it might not be for the long term unless he is the offense coordinator. If he's the offense coordinator and potentially head coach and waiting, then all of a sudden, maybe you're here for the long term. There's a lot of different things that can happen here, short, long term, the potential of how this helps KU to what degree. Is it a small help? Is it a huge help? All of those are dependent on what title he got. And I hope it is the offensive coordinator title.

Starting point is 00:10:15 Again, it's sticky, it's uncomfortable. It pushes some guys to other roles. But I like Jim Zabrowski as a quarterback coach, but I like Andy Kodlnicki better as an offensive play caller. And I think it's okay to kind of admit that. Here's the thing at the bottom line that, why this is a big deal. I tweeted this out. The last time Andy Kodalnicki, Jim Zabowski, and Matt Lubick were all together.

Starting point is 00:10:34 Kansas finished in 2023, 17th in ESPN SP Plus on offense. Seventh in ESPN FPI in offensive efficiency, 18th in points per game. sixth in yards per play, 12th and third down percentage, and 21st in sacks loud per game. This is a big deal to bring Andy Cotele-Nic back. To what degree will determine how important it is for KU, but, you know, even if it is as a non-offensive coordinator, I don't love it as much, but it's still helpful just to have his mind in there in the same way that it was helpful to have Matt Lubick as an offense vandalist during some of those years with Cotele Nikki.

Starting point is 00:11:08 I did find this interesting, too. Gage Keyes tweeted this out, who I appreciate Gage Keyes. has been vocal on social media. It kind of gives us an insight into things. And he tweeted out, time for the other side of the ball now in regards to the news. I'm kind of wondering, like, okay, do they need a different coach on the defensive side of the football? I think a lot of people are nodding their head one way or another, and you can probably figure out where that's going. All right, let's get to some of the latest portal news.

Starting point is 00:11:32 It has been wild for KU. Obviously, it opened up on a Friday. We're going to have a separate episode talking about Trey Lathen because that's the biggest loss at this point for KU. So we'll touch on that and some of the other recent losses for KU. KU next. Today's episode of Locked on Jayhawks is brought to you by Ruggiet. Let's talk about something most men don't bring up, but absolutely

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Starting point is 00:12:49 Don't forget you can check out Lockdown College football or Locked on college basketball as well. You can hit up on social media at L.O. underscore Jayhawks or at D. Johnson Radio. Okay, some of the latest portal news, there's been a lot recently. Obviously, the portal opened up on Friday. There could be more because they have till February 16th to still enter into the portal. Tyler Mercer, who was your projected starting center in 2026. We had a specific episode on that. So check that out and thank you the everydayers who already did.

Starting point is 00:13:15 Trey Lathen is the big one. We're going to have a specific episode just to that because that's the biggest loss in the portal so far for KU. I thought he had a chance to be KU's best returning player in 2026. So that's a huge loss for them at linebacker. Carter Lovruski, who is another one of those kids that Jordan Peterson recruited when he was at Kansas to be a potential future pillar on the offensive line at one of the tackle spots. And now he's gone after a redshirt freshman season. Jade and Doss, this is one thing that stinks, and this applies to both Doss and Mercer. Mercer and Doss are both guys that were brought in for KU to kind of learn the system this

Starting point is 00:13:51 year, red shirt, and then feel like you knew things a little bit better than in 2026 you could capitalize on that to where you wouldn't have to add in a transfer, you know, that would be more internally developed transfer, but not both those guys are leaving. So it's almost like you spend all this time, resource, money to bring these kids in, and now they're leaving for another school now obviously like there are certain things that sometimes you bring somebody on and maybe people just don't get along if it's a money thing that can be another thing like do you get poached in the portal who knows what's exactly going on there between some of those players but like it just it almost makes i don't know like this is probably

Starting point is 00:14:29 an overreaction because there are other guys who are on the team for kansas that they had the same idea with right some other offensive linemen that they brought in last year to be developmental guys like Amir Herring was kind of one of these guys. Amir Herring he brought on as what a redshirt freshman. He developed for a year was a really good starter for KU last year as a redshirt sophomore and now potentially as a redshirt junior. So like you look at that and that worked out for KU. So maybe this is overreacting, but it's almost just like why even play that game now?

Starting point is 00:14:57 If players are going to come in with the idea to develop for a year and then be a good player for you, but they leave before you actually get the on-field production, is that just a waste or you're just better off adding a one-year player, you know, who's going to be a senior. I don't know. Dylan Brooks also entering a guy who has battled a lot of injuries for KU. So I wish him the best there. And the Joseph Sip is another big one. We touched on that in the Trey Lathen video as well. But basically KU's linebacker room is pretty barren. It's a couple of young players, couple of young freshmen that I like their future, but are you ready for them to hit the field as freshman at the linebacker spot? So a little bit of a rough last whatever, 24, 36 hours

Starting point is 00:15:36 for KU in the Transfer Portal game. They are starting lineup visits. A couple of them posted on social media, Landon Watson. He's a linebacker from Kentucky, kind of more of a rotational linebacker for Kentucky, I'd imagine would be playing a bigger role for Kansas. And then DJ Jackson

Starting point is 00:15:52 Jr., an edge from Troy, kind of a, again, more of a rotational defensive end for Troy. Maybe KU feels good about where they're at with their defensive ends with Leroy Harris and Dak Brinkley and Alex Bray, and they want somebody who can and, you know, be more accepting of a rotational role as opposed to guaranteed a starter spot necessarily.

Starting point is 00:16:12 It doesn't mean he couldn't come in and start, but I think that would be the idea there. We're going to touch more on the losses, the gains on upcoming episodes. We also have that episode coming out as well, talking specifically about Trey Lathen and a little less on, but still on Joseph Sip. So check that episode out as well. Don't forget check out our KUUCF preview. Also, the postcast up after the Kansas UCF game, and that'll know it for this episode of Locked on Jayhawks. So you can find a show anywhere you get your podcast, including on our YouTube page where you can like and subscribe to the show. See you next time on LOJ.

Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - REUNION: Andy Kotelnicki RETURNS to Kansas Football as Associate Head Coach - Will He Call Plays?

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