Football Offseason

Inside Andy Kotelnicki’s Playbook: Red Zone Concepts

Photo courtesy of PSU Athletics (Selders)

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Though it remains cloudy whether the famous author coined the phrase, it’s a known fact that in the 1880s Mark Twain popularized the line, “Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics.”

In other words, numbers can prove both sides of any argument, no matter how radical or preposterous…a premise like, oh I don’t know, Mike Yurcich’s 2023 offense was the most efficient of any Penn State attack in the James Franklin Era when the ball crossed opponents’ 20-yard-line.

According to our friends at teamrankings.com, last year’s Penn State squad ranked 5th in the FBS in Red Zone Scoring Percentage (94.64%) and T-7th in FBS in Red Zone Attempts per Game (4.7). So, while it certainly seemed like the Nittany Lions became lifeless and stagnant as the field shrank (shrunk?) – and that Yurcich’s limited list of concepts inside the 20 and repetitive use of bread-and-butter alignments (cough, T Formation, cough) were the major culprits of that perception – statistically speaking, new Penn State offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki has some Shaq-like size 22 shoes to fill in that particular department.

Although the dictionary definition for the red zone refers to territory “inside the opponent’s 20 yard line,” coordinators will turn to the red zone section of their call sheet as early as the 28-ish yard line. Why do they need specific plays for this area of the field, you might be wondering? Well, defensive philosophies change when the field condenses and their backs are up against the goal line. And if defensive philosophies change, the offense must counter. Cat and Mouse. Zig and Zag. Adapt or die…well, not die, but kick a field goal, which for hyper-competitive OCs is like dying.

OLD FAITHFULS

Ever since Kotelnicki’s early-December hire, we’ve portrayed the newbie as P.T. Barnum in a team-issued Nike sweatshirt – an out-of-the-box schemer and play designer who wows audiences and befuddles opposing DCs with sleight of hand mixed with big-top bravado. Well, when isolating ourselves from friends and family for days in order to meticulously catalog Coach Kotelnicki’s Red Zone tendencies, we uncovered some groundbreaking information:

He really likes to run the ball.

Not as exciting as you were hoping for? Same here. But it is what it is.

Exhibit A:

Trips Nub…a common formation that PSU has used plenty of recently. Offenses love it because you have your passing strength to one side of the field (the trips) and your run strength to the other side (the TE or “Y” on the ball). Some defenses are so conflicted that they play “corners over” — which means the corner to the TE side will travel all the way over to the trips side and play coverage over there…obviously that leaves a severe coverage disadvantage to the TE side, which scares many defensive coaches from doing it. But if you leave your CB over there, he better be able to tackle! (Spoiler alert: Most can’t).

Kotelnicki does an awesome job here of using Zone Read to put the boundary CB (the TE side CB) in conflict. Attack matchup advantages on offense and you will have walk-in TDs just like…err… well, almost like this one, assuming your QB isn’t running with timberlands on. Great concept. Poor execution. But, still, great concept.

Later that same game, Kotelnicki calls a flavorless wide zone run from a 2×2 formation and the RB goes untouched for 6.

Kotelnicki’s affinity for keeping the ball on the ground in tight quarters – like the Red Zone – has to do with how much time and attention he and the offensive assistants at Kansas and Buffalo put in developing offensive linemen and hammering home the principles of go-to run concepts like the wide zone, which you witnessed in the clip above.

FUN STUFF/NEW STUFF

Now that we’ve cleared the X’s and O’s lima beans from our plate,, we can finally dig in and chew on some more exciting Red Zone concepts.

Kotelnicki enjoying putting defenses on their heels using tempo, particularly in the low, LOW red area (likeinside the 5). While Yurcich was also a tempo guy (at times), he tended to take his foot off the gas the closer he got to the goal line.

This is called a sugar huddle. Why? I’m not sure. I do know that it is great for gaining an extra gap from an unbalanced alignment or getting a simple advantage by snapping the ball before the defense can get set up. Think about it, defenses are used to having enough time to make a sandwich in the time between when the offense breaks the huddle and when they snap the ball.

Using fast tempo like this immediately puts the defenses in chaotic scramble mode – especially in the Red Zone. And in that area of the field, all it takes is a tiny advantage to make the difference of inches. One problem here: it doesn’t exactly work. As you can see as Buffalo breaks the huddle, they try to sneak an extra offensive linemen to the left side of the line to gain another hat + gap + 320 pounds of mass. Ball State is able to shift the front properly and stay gap sound. Sometimes you just gotta tip your cap!

Kotelnicki made note of this… and he got his revenge later that game:

Same exact presentation – but Vantrese (the QB) keeps it and again, would be able to walk in if he wasn’t running in mud + the TE stays engaged with the DE. This is an awesome example of layering plays and having answers for everything. Whereas previous Penn State offenses might spam T-formation blast until they get in, Kotelnicki prefers this approach: “If they stop us by doing X, we will do Y.

At Kansas, Kotelnicki really tightened and perfected his use of sugar huddles. Notice how the breaks and sprints to the line of scrimmage in these clips  (below) compared to the Buffalo are faster, crisper, and therefore more deceiving.

Example 1:

Example 2:

Example 3 (notice the QB is split out as a WR):

Lastly, Kotelnicki loves the element of deception in the scoring zone. I mean who doesn’t? Yuricich certainly did, but those creative, trick plays weren’t always successful – just reference the last play of his tenure, that clown car 2-point attempt vs. Michigan. While we’re on the topic, here’s a clip of Kotelnicki running pretty much that exact play…also unsuccessfully.

Sorry for the lack of a trigger warning, but it’s hard to blame this one on the play caller. Remember Kotelnicki’s belief in “distortion” that we referenced last article? Formations and plays like these are a prime example of just that.

How about this one? How as a defender are you able to play at 100 mph when all this eye candy is occurring right in front of your face? 2 QBs on the field. Neither of them take the snap. The least threatening eligible receiver ends up with the ball. Distortion at its finest.

March 20, 2024by FTB Shane