3 Conceptual/Schematic ‘Fixes’ On Andy Kotelnicki’s Immediate To-Do List
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“You can’t really know where you are going until you know where you have been. – Maya Angelou.”
–James Franklin, possibly*
Starting tomorrow until some random late May 2024 afternoon when those antiquated college football preview magazines hit the shelves at what’s left of Barnes & Noble Booksellers (just a stack of Star Trek Funko Pops and a scattering of road atlases last time I checked), we’ll be Quasimodo-ing it in our depressing 1-bedroom apartments, sifting through film after film after film and marveling over the magnificent schematic sandcastles new Penn State OC Andy Kotelnicki molded during his days at Kansas and Buffalo.
But, for now, let’s take one last glimpse at the moist, amorphous pile of washed-away dirt left on the shoreline that was the 2023 Penn State offense…if, for no other reason, to identify which specific offensive concepts Kotelnicki needs to lug his shovel and pale to and patch up first.
Let’s dive in!
Quick Passing Game
Contrary to popular belief, it is not necessarily considered a “drop back pass” every time the quarterback throws the ball. To quote 21st philosopher Meek Mill, “there’s levels to this….” Specifically, there are shot plays, true dropbacks, and quick game. These nuanced throwing families, if you will, are often differentiated by quarterback footwork, pass protection, and route combinations.
As James Franklin said himself post-Michigan — and echoed for the remaining two weeks of the regular season — Penn State needed to do a better job of calling plays early in games to get the QB in rhythm. Quick Game passing concepts are essential in achieving this. As an OC, you should be able to gameplan at least 3-5 guaranteed, layup completions from Quick Game.
And yet, as statistics show, executing that wasn’t as simple as it should have been. According to PFF, Penn State quarterback Drew Allar completed 72.2% of throws between 0 and 9 yards this season. In 2022, Sean Clifford connected on 79.2% of passes within the same range. So, what happen? Well, for whatever reason, too many of departed OC Mike Yurcich’s Quick Game passing concepts had a way-too-high degree of difficulty this season.
Here’s a head scratching example all around:
The first thing I look for when deciphering ‘Quick Game’ from ‘True Dropback’ is Allar’s footwork. Yurcich would coach his QBs to use a shuffle drop (great explainer in the link) on Quick Game – which is what occurs on this play. Footwork, however, is not the culprit for this ugly incompletion. Allar has a great base and is lined up to his target. All good.
The actual concept is…*searches for adjective*… not great. Allar starts on the slot option (84-Theo Johnson, which he ends up coming back to and throwing) and works back to the slant (11-Malik McClain) and then the IN (1-KLS) on the backside. As you can see, it’s a disaster. Above all else, my point is that there is better stuff out there. Yes, this pass COULD be successful. But this is far too much effort to complete a five yard out. Remember, the point of QG is to create easy completions.
How might Kotelnicki fix this? There are a couple things he can do. The simplest might be adding motion to the playside of the concept, which can clean up the read pre-snap for the QB by immediately putting a defender in conflict. Here’s an example from last season:
This is a 4-strong spacing concept. The motion from the RB causes a defender to run with him and creates an immediate vacated space in the middle. No-brainer read for Clifford here. See how easy this looks? The fact I had to go all the way back to last season to find a clip of an effective, no frills, simplistic Quick Game concept says a lot about how Penn State’s passing attack devolved under Yurcich.
True Dropback Passing Concepts
Quick game aside, the dropback game needs work, as well. This is the bulk of your passing game. Three and five step drops, intermediate routes, concepts that allow the QB to go through full progressions – an undeniable strength of Allar’s.
In Allar’s first season as Penn State’s starter, he proved to possess the maturity and football acumen that won’t lose you games, which is a great launching point. Now, it’s up to Kotelnicki to formulate a script/scheme that enables Allar to win games for Penn State. A huge accelerant toward flipping that switch within Allar could come from additional usage of ‘Empty’ packages — 5 eligibles out wide, 5 in pass protection. According to Sports Info Solutions, Kotelnicki’s 2023 Kansas offense deployed ‘Empty’ nearly twice as much as Penn State did this past season.
The main benefit that Empty provides a quarterback/OC pre-snap is information gathering. In this offensive alignment, the defense is almost forced to show its hand prematurely. More specifically, if the defense intends to send pressure, they almost have to show it.
Think about it: if the nickel defender was gonna blitz, he’d have to make it brutally obvious before the snap or else someone would be widdddde open.
Another key in Empty is the “#2 weak.” This is the slot receiver to the two-eligible-side. This receiver will almost always have a favorable matchup against a linebacker or safety. Why? Because the nickel and other safety have to be concerned about the three-eligible side of the field. In this case, 2-Liam Clifford has a linebacker in front of him (at least I hope it’s a linebacker, because if it’s a safety, he should probably think about switching to linebacker). Allar knows before the snap that Clifford should win this favorable matchup — and he does, handedly. Nothing complex. Nothing to scan post-snap. Nothing to decipher.
3rd Level RPOs
Lastly, don’t be surprised if Kotelnicki implements more 3rd level RPOs (run/pass options). Not to say PSU doesn’t do this, but the volume at which they did it from 2022 with Clifford to 2023 with Allar dropped substantially. In 2024, I think this can become their bread and butter.
Now, Yurcich called a high volume of 1st level RPOs this season, which usually involved a TE arrow screen in the flat. These are great, but there is a lot of untapped potential down the field. Additionally, 3rd Level RPOs can also “protect” the run game and may create the hairline of space needed for explosive runs. Let me explain!
3rd level RPOs involve a read on a 3rd level defender: a safety. If they step up and play the run, throw it. If the safety hesitates or retreats, hand the ball off.
Here’s an example vs. Illinois:
The safety (Illinois 21-Clayton Bush) makes it very easy on Allar here. He lines up head up over the wing back while the other safety is picking dandelions in the outfield. Allar knows he is throwing the glance route as long as the box safety doesn’t drop into the hook/curl zone (Allar is 99% sure he won’t since he follows 44-Tyler Warren when he motioned). Sure enough, the safety triggers when he sees his coverage assignment run block. Clean passing window/landing pad for Allar’s throw. This is a beautifully designed and execut…err…well, it was beautifully designed, and we’ll leave it at that.
Here’s another example where the safety makes it easy on Allar:
The safety fits the run and leaves another massive void for the glance route. Just need the receiver to win the essential 1v1.
This is my last point before I stop rambling. Remember how I said these 3rd Level RPOs can help produce explosive runs? If a safety has run fit responsibilities and is all the sudden worried about a throw slung behind his helmet earhole, it often causes them to hesitate just a millisecond. Sometimes, that’s all it takes to break off an 80-yard run. How many times did you as a viewer feel like Singleton was so close to breaking one? All it takes is a split second of hesitation.
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