I credit Andy Kotelnicki — at least in part — for so many veteran Penn State football players deciding to return for one final season in 2025 in the hopes of winning a national championship. And I told him so.
Coach K was the mastermind of a Penn State offense that helped guide the Nittany Lions to a 13-3 record, a berth in the Big Ten title game and two early-round wins in the 2024 College Football Playoff.
After just one season as the Nittany Lions’ offensive coordinator, Kotelnicki was a hot commodity on the college coaching market. It was widely reported that West Virginia was interested in him as its next head coach.
Ultimately, Kotelnicki decided to stay, and on Dec. 9 — just two days after Penn State lost 45-37 to Oregon in a Big Ten championship game shoot-out in Indy — he Tweeted that he was staying in Happy Valley. Shortly thereafter, his wife, Lindsey, retweeted his post and added the famous “Wolf of Wall Street” GIF, “I’m not leavin’.”
At media day two weeks ago, this is what I shared with Coach K: “There was a domino effect, and I think you started it. You said you’re coming back, then Drew [Allar] said he was coming back. Do you take any responsibility for that?”
Kotelnicki laughed. “That’s a good theory, I would roll with it,” he said tongue-in-cheek. “To me, it was really about each of the guys assessing things individually. But I think you’re 100% right — about when somebody makes that decision. I don’t think it was me.”
Then he pointed to Allar, his quarterback, 10 feet away.
“Drew,” noted Kotelnicki. “Drew said ‘Let’s do this. Let’s grab arm-in-arm and go to war together.’ So, I do think it makes the decision easier when you see other people wanting to do it, too. Because it’s a big decision.”
WHAT ALLAR SAYS
Seven days after Kotelnicki’s announcement, Allar announced that he, too, was returning for the 2025 season. (This was the day after his backup, Beau Pribula, left for Missouri.) This will be the last season at PSU for Allar, slated to be a three-year starter and now a two-time co-captain.
In addition to Allar, a boatload of veterans also got on-board for 2025, standouts like running backs Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen; offensive linemen Vega Ioane, Drew Shelton and Nick Dawkins; and defensive standouts Dani Dennis-Sutton, Zakee Wheatley, Zane Durant and Dom DeLuca.
They came back for a variety of reasons. Two weeks ago, I shared my Kotelnicki Domino Theory with Allar. QB1 smiled and didn’t disagree. (If Kotelnicki left, Allar would have been facing his third OC in four seasons if he stayed at Penn State.)
“For me, I knew I was 99% coming back when I knew Coach K was coming back,” Allar told me. “I think it’s the reverse from what he’s saying.
“Personally speaking, there were a lot of things I wanted to accomplish this year, both individually and as a team that I didn’t accomplish through my first three years. I can’t speak for everybody who decided to come back, but there are probably some similarities to my decision.
“For me,” Allar added, “it’s about urgently working as hard as I can and being diligent to become the player I want to be.”
And, that could very well be a Top 5 pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.
WHAT SINGLETON SAYS
As a running back with good receiving skills as well, Singleton would have been at least a sought-after player if he had gone pro after the 2024 season. And he could leave with a clear conscience, as well — along with 2,912 rushing yards as Penn State’s No. 10 career rusher. But, he wanted more.
“For the vets, I can speak for us,” Singleton told me. “It’s how the season ended. We didn’t want to leave Penn State with a loss. We want to leave knowing we competed for a national championship, we won a national championship. There are awards, too. But No. 1 is the national championship.”
I asked Singleton if Coach K was right, that the return of Allar had a ripple effect across the team. If Allar left, unless Penn State went shopping into the portal or if Pribula had received a heads-up and decided to stay, the starting QB in 2025 would either be Ethan Grunkemeyer or Jaxon Smolik, both of whom lacked any tangible college football in-game experience.
“It probably did,” Singleton replied. “Especially our position, the tight ends, some offensive linemen. Drew’s the quarterback. He leads the team. Having him come back shows that everybody is willing to sacrifice and compete for a national championship.”
MORE REASONS AND MO’ MONEY
Unfinished business, they call it. Singleton was referring to the sour Orange Bowl taste in his mouth and others’ after losing 27-24 to Notre Dame in the final seven seconds of the CFP semifinal game.
The run-it-back stampede by the Nittany Lions also had more than a bit to do with business, as well. A new in-house house pay-for-play payroll of $17 million or so — thanks to the House v. NCAA settlement — plus a number of NIL deals provided cash incentive for several Nittany Lions’ return to college.
The possibility of a higher spot in the 2026 NFL Draft — as opposed to the 2025 version — also may have had something to do with it.
On the Ross Tucker podcast earlier this month, Penn State head coach James Franklin was very candid when asked by Tucker about the financial imperative that compelled some of his veteran players to return in 2025.
“The ability for players to be able to make money is there now — and probably always should have been,” Franklin said.
“One of the things I probably like about it, though, is that in the old days you’d sit down with a kid and their family, and you’d say, ‘Look, all the data says you should come back to school. You’re going to be a third- or fourth-round draft choice.’ And they would come back for nothing.
“And although it may have been the best decision long-term for their career if they could move up significantly in [NFL draft] rounds, it’s still hard to do that. Some kids and some families really had no choice. Their family situation dictated they had to go. Well, now a player can come back for good money, have a chance to graduate and help the team.”
The money has led to a buzz about the Nittany Lions’ chances to win a national title in 2025. They are, after all, ranked No. 2 in the Associated Press preseason poll.
“I think that’s the reason why people are talking about Penn State so much,” Franklin noted. “We had so many of these types of players — eight on line that could have left early who decided to come back. That’s a big reason why our rankings are so high.”
THE 1986 NITTANY LIONS
Also in vogue is the model of running it back that propelled veteran Big Ten teams at Michigan (2023) and Ohio State (2024) to national titles. Franklin The Benchmarker obviously took notes. Their rosters were full of seniors and draft-eligible stars who postponed their bite at the NFL apple in the hopes of going out as the No. 1 team in the country. As it was, Michigan had nine players picked in the draft after winning the title in 2023 and Ohio State had 14 after finishing No. 1 last season.
In some ways, this veteran set of Nittany Lions is similar to the Penn State group in 1986. Those players also lost in the Orange Bowl, the de facto national championship game, to end their season. Penn State entered that game 11-0 and ranked No. 1 in the nation. Oklahoma was No. 3. The Sooner won 25-10 to take the national title.
The Penn State veterans on that team, led by linebacker Shane Conlan, didn’t take it very well. Overall, 16 Nittany Lions returned for a fifth season, led by such starters as Conlan, Duffy Cobbs (his daughter is a manager on the 2025 squad), Don Graham, Dan Morgan, Massimo Manca, Eric Hamilton, Keith Radecic, Brian Siverkling, Steve Smith and Bob White.
In addition, that squad had 14 true seniors, led by John Shaffer, D.J. Dozier, Chris Conlin, Ray Isom and Tom Johnson.
For those Nittany Lions, it was a storybook ending. They picked off Miami (Fla.) quarterback Vinny Testaverde five times and defeated the Hurricanes, 14-10, in the Fiesta Bowl, for Joe Paterno’s second national championship in five years.
Now, nearly four decades later, will the veteran Nittany Lions once again lead the way?
