Home Football Corvallis Media, Culture and Andersen Concerns

Corvallis Media, Culture and Andersen Concerns

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angry
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137

Gary Andersen, or his family, reportedly didn’t like Wisconsin.

So why not? What do they look for in a town? And will they like Corvallis’ culture? Maybe they only like Utah?

Also, is it clear to Andersen expectations have been raised, or will the low expectations of the past regime carry over to the point he thinks he can goof off and win 6 games and everything’s jake? The Corvallis media has very low expectation and low opinion of OSU–does he sense this and lose fire?

Finally, those who have seen his OC don’t speak highly of him.

These are my concerns.

137 COMMENTS

  5. My sense is that Andersen’s wife didn’t like Madison (weather, maybe; didn’t like the culture there), which he would have suffered through for a while more, but he didn’t “click” with Alvarez, which was the “kicker.”. Madison isn’t a huge city (though it has an airport, I think) but many of his stops in Idaho and Utah are small towns and cities.

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      • Madison is actually a pretty nice place. Dominated by the UW and the State Gov. It is very liberal and a hard drinking culture exists there. Much different than Utah. Last winter was historically bad. I still think this is mainly about BA keeping his paws on the program.

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  6. On a previous thread I thought Villamin’s phrase “couldn’t bring” was interesting….almost speaks to health problems for Riley (or he was just totally disengaged). I would want to follow up with Villamin and ask “why couldn’t Mike Riley bring energy”?

    Maybe it’s just a slightly awkward word grouping, but head coaches at that high of a level should not be perceived by their players as not being able to bring energy. So much for the “hip hip hoorays”. There has been specualtion that he lost the lockerroom with some of this team, I’m thinking that is probably true.

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    • concur, mckalk. I mean, you could just watch our bench at times (so much of the time really) and just see that there was no “fire” there; much of which blame falls on the head coach. This is going to be so much fun, especially as we watch Riley fail concurrently

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      • Yeah, and the use of the word “couldn’t” as opposed to “didn’t” bring energy speaks to Villamin seeing and understanding behavior with Riley that we always thought was evident, but the media always tried to say otherwise. Riley was spent and burned out….maybe he can find something with his new job, but let’s stop with the St.Riley bullshit, he hurt the program, more than helped it the last five years.

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        • Yeah, Goe would say he has “internal fire”, which since he doesn’t frequent Corvallis, not sure how he would have any idea. Second, as the head coach of a college football team, you very much need “external fire”.

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          • The Pollyannas used to say “He’s competitive on the inside.” This is a violent and emotional game where coaches have to be engaged. Off by yourself and looking at your shoes ain’t gonna get it done. The demeanor of the players AND coaches on the sideline told me all I had to know for years. Opie kinda treated his players like spoiled children – no guidance/wrath when they effed up. At this level you can’t just be their friend. I hope to see discipline, emotion, physically prepared and a take no prisoners approach with Angry Andy.

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          • I think its important the coach maintains some levity and not be overly-reactive or over-emotional.

            But there needs to be energy and enthusiasm. Attention and vigilance to maintaining that until the game is won. An expectation of the same on the part of the players.

            Walking the sidelines hunched over, chewing your gum like that quit selling it, not enough. Don’t just look at the scoreboard. Know WHEN and HOW to get on a ref. Standing by while your “franchise” back is hit 15 yards out of bounds isn’t adequate. Relaxing because you’ve taken a 3rd quarter lead isn’t acceptable.

            So glad those days are gone.

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          • This makes me think of Rich Rod’s face during the PAC 12 championship. His team was getting hammered in the first half and he has this look on his face like he is going to explode. Like it takes all his focus to keep restrained. That was intense. That’s a guy with fire. Sure UA layed an egg, but Oregon was in the “zone”.

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          • I use a little test called the “google image test” and if a coach is featured in a bunch of photos where they appear angry or riled up or screaming, they’re probably decent coaches and better than Riley. I could only find one picture in the entire feed of images from google that features Riley with his mouth open, possibly yelling.

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  8. Any one here ever been to Wisconsin? It can be very humid in warm months, very cold in the winter. Polka. Brandy old-fashioned sweets. People who can’t pronounce the letter “O” correctly. White-tailed deer like fleas on the landscape.

    I wouldn’t want to live there either.

    Seriously, the people there were very nice, and I could see how some people from the state/region could like it, but not a “destination” for me.

    The Andersen hiring is so great, still a bit hard to belive. The PAC is getting very tough. Finally some of that toughness resides in Corvallis (and not “Pat Hill tough,” Canzano, you idiot).

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    • Been to Madison several times and on a gameday. It is awesome. My lady’s family is from MN and has a cabin in WI…sure it was cold visiting there, but it’s cold everywhere in winter except a few select areas. Utah is cold.

      What we need to know is what the wife didn’t like, because maybe Corvallis has that, too.

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  10. Random thoughts on the new OC:

    Ludwig is a pro set guy, looks like Andersen runs a wide open spread when he has his way. I would hope Ludwig isn’t coming along.

    Matt Wells was Andersen’s OC at USU, can’t see him taking an OC position.

    I hope Andersen doesn’t think he needs a half pro/half spread transition period. Just rip off the band aid and install your system.

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    • Completely agree with this. We have such large group of young guys that it would be a waste to do a transition period. I’m sure the team will find the new system easier to pickup. Because of this they’ll flourish.

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  11. Interesting – Gary has a son named Chasen who signed with BYU but was granted a release to Wisky this past season. Redshirted this year as a true frosh.

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  12. I’ve said this a couple of times before in previous posts, but I wrote to BDC and Ed Ray to tell them no Andy Ludwig. I recommend you all do the same.

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  13. Andersen and/or his family didn’t like Wisconsin. Our nation’s dairy capital. So in a sense, cowtown. Am I the only one seeing the irony in this???? Puker? Goe? Gucci lard ass?

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    • Having lived in Corvallis, not sure where this image of cowtown even comes from. I think there some kind of feedlot near campus…but is it a real operation? I never saw that part of the valley as being much involved in the cattle industry. The land is too expensive.

      You need to travel out to Eastern Oregon to find a “cowtown”.

      I suppose they may also be pushing the image that Corvallis is conservative and are instead calling it a cowtown. But again, Corvallis is not conservative. It has to be one of the most liberal towns in america right?

      I imagine the vast majority of people who were forced to spend a day in Eugene and a day in Corvallis would find the latter to be more satisfying.

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      • I live here too. I have no idea why it’s referred to as “cowtown”. Other than the ages old fact that Oregon St was originally OAC. Agriculture apparently means farmers

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  14. The Wisconsin AD (Barry Alvarez) is reported to be a micromanager. Alvarez’s micromanagement is suspected to be one reason why Gary Andersen (and Bret Bielema) decided to leave Wisconsin. We should not make the same mistake — Ed Ray and BDC should not try to micromanage Gary Andersen or the OSU football program.

    We should give Gary Andersen a chance to staff and run the OSU football program as he thinks best. Give Andersen the freedom, trust, and resources to succeed at OSU, but hold him strictly accountable if he fails. Management 101 (but not at all the way OSU football operated in the Mike Riley era — an era that suddenly and thankfully ended last week).

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  15. Just re-newed my season tix that I had cancelled last year.

    Thank you for your ticket purchase. For future reference, your
    order confirmation number is TS-xxxxxxxxxx. A summary of your
    order follows:

    2015 NEW Football Season Tickets

    Qty Price Fee Cost
    — ——– ——— ———-
    2 50.00 0.00 100.00

    Delivery Method: MAIL

    ==========
    Item Cost 100.00
    Total Cost 100.00

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    • FWIW. There has been talk amongst the Fadger fan base about Andersen’s poor communication skills and awkwardness at press conferences. It is amped up now because of the jilted lover syndrome, but it was brought up last year, so there may be something there. It will be interesting to so how his first presser goes in Corvallis. Go Beavs.

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      • Have you watched the video of Gary Andersen’s BTN interview the night before the Big Ten Championship game? It was posted on angrybeavs.com already, but here it is again: http://www.btn2go.com/video/gary-andersen-interview—eve-of-b1g-championship-game

        I thought Gary Andersen did a great job in this interview. Came across — at least to me — as honest, intelligent, energetic, informed, etc. No “aw shucks” nonsense. No evasions. No long pauses to gather his thoughts. Very different from the typical Riley interview (in a good way). Watch the interview, and see for yourself what you think. After years of Riley’s stale evasions and non-answers, GA seems like a breath of fresh air to me….

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        • Their performance in that game was very Rileyesque though. I mean 59-0 in a conference championship game with a back like Melvin Gordon is pretty dam embarrassing

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          • I don’t get worked up over one game. Ever.

            Many sports errors are made because of that emotion (e.g. NFL GMs signing a QB because of one good game is pretty common–Rob Johnson and Matt Flynn come to mind immediately).

            tOSU’s recruits have a much higher rating than Wisconsins, too. Andersen said in the post game he needed to upgrade the talent.

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          • They did also wet the bed at home last year against PSU (who had nothing to play for) with a BCS game on the line. I believe that’s partially where the idea that Andersen isn’t a good big game coach comes from.

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      • That was the $50 per ticket deposit. Theyre still pretty cheap though if you buy the Valley Football Center sections which are $180 per seat for the full year. (basically the last 3 sections on each side of the 2nd level) The seats arent bad and you get an actual chair rather than a bleacher seat. Averages out to 30 per game, and you can usually make a good chunk of that back if you just sell one of the games on craigslist.

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  19. After the initial excitement, here’s the good and bad about the move,

    The good,
    He’s a good HC without any known controversies in the past.
    He has good assistants.

    The bad,
    He has left two schools when he said he planned to stay before each move.
    It’s a risky move for OSU. They are going to have increase the payroll for the coaching staff. Money they really don’t have. Donations are somewhere around 10-11 million a year right now. They’ll need to increase for the investment to pay off.

    Hopefully Andersen did not make a desperation move and he knows what he is getting into.

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  20. For the assistants still on payroll, it’s a new head guy, he can choose who he wants on his staff so I don’t mind if they wipe the slate clean.

    But guys worth keeping,
    Seumalo – I think there’s one more kid in the family. A Polynesian connection. But the Wisconsin dline coach is also polynesian so it might be a wash.
    Brennan – WR’s have developed nicely under him. Villamin is one you can point to as all Brennan.

    On the fence,
    Perry – Might be too old to stick around.
    Brasfield – Lack of info on him but haven’t heard that he’s a difference maker.

    Reply

  21. Portland Tribunes has some good articles up. Eggers is killing the Oregonian on this… the Oregonian just has Twitter reactions.

    http://portlandtribune.com/pt/12-sports/243517-111003-mike-riley-gut-wrenching-decision-to-leave-oregon-state-bittersweet-

    http://portlandtribune.com/pt/12-sports/243524-111008-how-the-scene-shifted-wednesday-at-oregon-state

    http://portlandtribune.com/pt/12-sports/243519-111006-the-scoop-on-gary-andersen-and-his-hiring-at-oregon-state

    Reply

  22. Since “Andersen Concerns” is in the title of this thread I’m going to repost some comments I posted in another thread.

    —————-
    Ohio State 59 Wisconsin 0

    – Andersen’s background was on the defensive side of the ball;
    – he worked for Urban for 1 year so he had to have an idea of what was going to be thrown at them;
    – and yet he and his DC didn’t have an answer.

    2 questions:

    1 – Is the spread offense that Urban Meyer runs similar to the ‘ucks offensive scheme?

    2 – If they are similar, are we sure we want Wisconsin’s 2014 DC?

    I can’t recall the ‘ucks beating the Beavs that bad so I’m hoping we’re not going to be in a situation like we had with ranker (unable to stop the ‘ucks) or god forbid even worse.

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  23. Fellow Angrybeavs. I request some sympathy. As we all rejoice the changing of the guard in Corvallis, the little lady made an astute and depressing observation. As we were watching the B1G presser/ interview with Riley in a sports bar after a b-ball game, I said to her how bizarre and surreal it was seeing him in the Neb. red tie. She says, “they finally get rid of him and then he follows you to the Big Ten to haunt you.” Luck-o the- Gopher.

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  26. Riley: it totally was vindictive move. He didn’t visit the town, doesn’t even know where he will live, has no idea what it is like back there. He just knows its proud history. Riley reacted emotionally to the situation was presented an out and he took it, without even really exploring things.

    Andersen: I don’t know why he wanted to leave, we will find out in due time. But in regards to the B1G championship game. The one thing that I did like watching the end of that game was how Andersen was congratulating his defense on a stop in the 4th Quarter. He was still competing in the blowout game that was soon to be over. He was fired up and slapping his players telling great stop that is the effort we want.

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  27. I lived in Wisconsin for short period was just 30 minutes south of Madison and in fact would work up there on the weekends. The winter I was there was one of the most brutual in the past 30 years (circa 1996), it was not fun there. The community are lifers, and very tight nit. The only thing to do there was go to the bars. It was bitterly cold, and the snow was on ground the whole time, and every pickup had their own snow plow.

    Reply

    • Along with the other factors often mentioned, I am willing to believe that the size and atmosphere at Corvallis are seen by Andersen as a positive and figured in to his decision.
      Every college town has it’s share of Libs and bars, but it seems to me that Madison and Corvallis are near opposite ends of the scale. I think that is more of a factor than the cold/snow in Madison.
      GO BEAVS!

      Reply

  31. Great job just now on JoeBeav Show by Scott and Tumwater Dave. Called out the “timid element”, and specifically Goe/Schnell/Jaynes. Made the point that the national perception of Corvallis as a cow town is merely “reaping the whirlwind” of the crap spewed by Goe et al.

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    • Great stuff on the radio, although I don’t think Parker quite gets that this move should have happened three years ago. There’s a subtlety to how the media behaved that goes over Parker’s head.

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  32. just driving back to Bend from Prineville, got to hear the two calls–who gave Dave the Angrybeavs cliff notes?

    As Scott said, Dave stole his thunder-but
    Scott bounced back by acknowledging Riley’s contributions.

    Well done guys!

    Reply

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