The world of Penn State football has had a whirlwind few days. Thursday brought reports of the hiring of new offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki. Friday came with an official announcement of Kotelnicki’s hiring from his previous job at Kansas, where he’d spent the last three years as offensive coordinator. Two days later, the Nittany Lions found out they were headed south to take on Ole Miss in the Peach Bowl.

Now, theoretically, comes the quiet part. From Sunday night, Penn State has 27 days before it has to play another football game. Before then comes recruiting trips for James Franklin and Co. along with finals week for the players. All the while, Penn State will have to prep for the Rebels as its new offensive coordinator preps to take over.

But Kotelnicki’s role the next few weeks won’t be hands-on, Franklin said Sunday evening after news of Penn State’s bowl destination broke. Instead, Kotelnicki will be working in the Lasch Building as he learns the ropes with Penn State and figures his way around his new job and home.

“Andy will be here more just taking in everything and getting a feel for how we operate [and] the culture,” Franklin said. “[He’ll] be able to be here be around our players, be able to sit in all meetings, be able to see strengths and weaknesses so that literally the day the bowl game ends, he can jump in with both feet and get going.”

Franklin compared Kotelnicki’s role to one similar to defensive coordinator Manny Diaz’ when Diaz first joined Penn State ahead of the 2021 Outback Bowl.

Kotelnicki will have valuable time over the next four weeks to develop his relationships with his assistant coaches, graduate assistants, and players. However, Kotelnicki’s relationship with what may be his most important position group — the quarterbacks — is still to be determined. Franklin said he was still undecided if Kotelnicki would serve as the team’s quarterbacks coach or if that role would be passed off to someone else.

Even if Kotelnicki isn’t working directly with the team’s most important position group, it’s clear Franklin has plenty of trust in his newest hire. Franklin said earlier that he wants each of his assistant coaches to be the “head coaches” of their individual groups. That means Ty Howle should be the head coach of the tight ends, Diaz should be the head coach of the defense, and now Kotelnicki will be the head coach of the offense. It’s no small task, but Franklin clearly feels Kotelnicki’s up for the job.

“[He has] 18 years of offensive coordinator experience in terms of calling the plays,” Franklin said about the traits that attracted him to Kotelnicki. “And then obviously you look at the data and what they’ve been able to do with their players and with their roster. It’s been really good. And then how I thought he would fit personality-wise with our players and staff.”

Kotelnicki will have to wait for a few more months before he gets to call plays. Just like Penn State’s incoming group of freshmen in the winter, Kotelnicki’s first chance to make his mark in Happy Valley will likely come during the Blue-White Game. Until then, it’s business as usual for the Nittany Lions.