Andy Kotelnicki excited in his first year as UW-Whitewater's new offensive coordinator

Sitting out in 90-plus degree heat to watch the UW-Whitewater football team go through its paces in training camp is among my favorite tasks involving Warhawk football. One aspect that has “jumped out at me” this summer is the energy that comes from the UWW coaching staff.

Andy Kotelnicki is the Hawks new offensive coordinator following Steve Dinkle leaving the program in the off-season to take an administrative position in the Jefferson (WI) School District.

I had the opportunity to sit down with Coach Kotelnicki following Wednesday afternoon’s practice to get a feel for the Warhawks’ 2013 offense.

It has been a good camp,” Kotelnicki tells Warhawkfootball.com. “We focus on getting one percent better each practice.”

”We’ve got a lot of new faces as coaches, a lot of new faces as players this year,” Kotelnicki said. “We’ve thrown a lot at them mentally over the past couple of weeks and they (players) have handled it pretty well. They continue to improve each practice.”

Kotenicki says there is a lot of energy and the players are focused.
”It’s a blank slate, a blank canvas that allows us to incorporate our impressions – our philosophies onto that canvas every day. Kotelnicki expains. “They have had an open mind to our new ideas. It’s all new to them regardless if we’ve been doing it for 18 years or if it’s a brand new scheme.”


I asked UWW’s new offensive coordinator if the 10,000 at Perkins Stadium for the season opener next week vs. Washington University will notice sweeping changes to the Warhawk’s offense.

”Part of the reason I’m here is because philosophically me and Coach Leipold are very much on the same page with what we believe will be successful moving the football,” Kotelnicki states. “We want to be multiple; we want to make sure our personnel dictate what we do. It you have four receivers on the field doesn’t mean you can’t be a great running team. If you have two tight ends, a fullback and a running back on the field doesn’t mean doesn’t mean you can’t be a great passing team.”

I then asked Coach Kotelnicki if “pound the rock” is still in UW-Whitewater’s offensive vernacular.

Absolutely,” Kotenicki quickly responded. “It was great coming in and working with Steve Dinkle for a semester. I was an outsider at the time and I didn’t fully understand what the mantra was all about. Now I understand. You have to keep swinging the hammer and chip away at that boulder and at some point it will break. It is the Warhawk way!”