North Carolina is making a significant head coaching change this season, and Penn State could be a program that loses a coordinator out of the change. North Carolina is moving on from the legendary Mack Brown after a disappointing season. He will get one final curtain call with the program this weekend against in-state rival NC State, but the UNC job is effectively vacant, and this is currently one of the most attractive jobs on the coaching carousel.
And as has become a regular thing for Penn State, the football staff has at least one name being thrown around as a potential candidate to fill the vacancy in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki was mentioned as a potential coaching candidate for the North Carolina job by CBSSports.com.
“Kotelnicki is a turnaround specialist and was part of Lance Leipold’s staff as he turned both Buffalo and Kansas into winners,” CBSSports.com said. “His misdirection offense is one of the most innovative in the game and helped the Nittany Lions move from No. 55 to 21 in total offense.”
Kotelnicki has certainly delivered on the hope of injecting some much-needed life into the Penn State offense, although there is still some room for improvement with the overall wide receiver production. Whether he is an actual candidate for the UNC brass is unknown, but it stands to reason that Kotelnicki will be a name thrown around for possible head coaching vacancies with his current track record.
The lack of head coaching experience shouldn’t necessarily be a disqualifier for Kotelnicki, but the UNC job may end up being more likely to go to an experienced head coach. Among the names thrown around in the coaching rumor mill and media have included Liberty head coach Jamey Chadwell, former Florida and Mississippi State head coach Dan Mullen, and UNLV head coach Barry Odom. The CBS list also included Colorado head coach Dein Sanders and Tulane head coach Jon Sumrall.
Unlike every other coach on this list, Kotelnicki does not have head coaching experience and he has only been at the power conference level for four years. Still, Kotelnicki is an obvious rising star that could be worth a swing.
Our friends at Tarheels Wire have an updated coaching big board. At this time, Kotelnicki is not included on their radar, but we’ll see if that changes at any time.
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