Coach ,

On Saturday, Kansas knocked off #6 Oklahoma with a balanced attack (218 yd pass/225 yd rush) amassing 443 yards and scoring 38 points.

Balance has been a winning formula for the Jayhawks all season long. Their offense is performing at a top 25 level in just about every category:

#7 rushing yards per attempt 5.6 yd

#12 rushing offense 213.6 ypg

#12 3rd Down .484

#17 Passing Efficiency 160.11

#18 Points per Game 35.8

#21 Sacks Allowed per Game 1.25

#24 Yards per Completion 13.8 yd

The offense is carefully orchestrated. Offensive Coordinator Andy Kotelnicki has been doing this every stop along the way with Head Coach Lance Leipold. At Wisconsin-Whitewater they led the Warhawks to their sixth national championship before moving on to Buffalo.

At Buffalo, Coach Kotelnicki directed some of the best offenses in school history.

2020: The Bulls averaged a school-record 478.4 yards of total offense per game and a school-record 287.4 yards per contest rushing. Buffalo ranked second in the nation in rushing offense (287.4) and fifth in the nation in scoring offense at 43.5 points per game. As a result of Buffalo’s successful 2020 season, Coach Kotelnicki was named one of four finalists for the FootballScoop Offensive Coordinator of the Year Award. He was the only finalist from a non-Power 5 conference.

2019: Coach Kotelnicki’s offense rushed for 3,256 yards, shattering the single-season school record. Buffalo ranked 10th in the nation in rushing offense in 2019. In addition, the Bulls’ 36 rushing touchdowns tied the single-season school record.

2018: Buffalo featured a record-breaking offense in 2018. The Bulls shattered the program record for single-season total offense posting 5,803 yards on the year. Buffalo scored 64 offensive touchdowns in 2018, which was also a school record.

Coach Kotelnicki has certainly coached some great players along the way, but it takes a sound plan not just game to game, but all year round to get an offense performing to its maximum potential.

That’s something that offensive coordinator Coach Kotelnicki takes great pride in and spends countless hours ensuring that he and his staff get it right and put their players in a position to be successful.

In his clinic on game planning, Kotelnicki starts by defining the word “coordinate”

It’s not about being a guru or putting up gaudy stats. It’s about bringing things together. In our era of huge offensive stats, it's easy to lose focus on that. To keep that focus. Kotelnick begins every offensive meeting with that picture on the screen to remind them that they need to be on the same page.  

The fingers show that small gap that’s necessary for them to close to make the difference and win on Saturday.

Kotelnick explains how all of what they do is driven by execution in this video:

Video: Execution

Kotelnicki points out the importance of having a flexible structure that does not hinder creativity. He illustrates two paradigms of game planning to which most coaches subscribe:

Whether it's an “us” or them” focus, game planning fits into three models:

1. “Less is more” model: best suited to teams with great talent and depth. They have less volume in their playbook which leads to more offensive production. Sometimes this model lacks answers.

1.  “An answer for everything” model: teams that do not have as much talent may feel they need more plays. This model can detract from performance and execution because of the volume burden on players.

1. “The inverted U” model (pictured below): the “art and science” of coaching. Having enough to prepare the answers needed to attack a defense, but not too much as to hinder execution.

“You gotta make football finite”  - it was an “aha” moment for Kotelnick in realizing that he only has so many reps available in practice.

What the Jayhawjks start with is quantifying their week. Minutes = reps. How much:

• 11 on 11 reps
• Skelly
• Inside
• 1st team, 2nd team, 3rd team reps
• Meeting time
• Walk thru time

Like in the classroom, you need to know how much time you have to teach the subject.

These define what you will be able to work on and have ready for a game.  You only have those reps, so you must use them wisely.

Coach Kotelnicki covers all the details of how they break this down yearly and by week to understand exactly what they need for every situation and how they will be able to get the maximum out of their execution on game day.

This is an exercise that every coordinator should do regardless of whether he coordinates the offense, defense, or special teams

Thank your to Coach Koetlnick for sharing the specifics in Kotelnicki’s clinic “Developing an Offensive Game Plan.”

As you get into the late season and postseason, a tweak here or there to your process can be what helps you to win and move on!

Always be growing!

Coach Grabowski

P.S. 

The entire Kansas offense staff set of clinics can be found here (save on 58% the bundle)

Kansas Offense Staff Bundle