163 COMMENTS

  1. Random scotty-thoughts:

    1) Welcome to the new coach :)

    2) What on earth was the buyout? What are we paying him? I’m worried.

    3) This hire would have had a lot more luster pre-Ohio State :P

    4) Good to get a solid coach and not a retread

    5) Too weird!

  2. Well that was out of left field. Only semi knocks my socks off. I guess he saw Mike Riley in his division and wanted no part of it.

    He made 2.2 million last year.

  3. Wikipedia already opens with “is the head coach at Oregon State.” Beating OLive…

    Compare this wiki entry to Riley’s actions: “After Andersen decided to leave Utah State for the Wisconsin job, he called every one of his players at Utah State individually to inform them personally of his decision.”

  4. His salary now is 2.7 mil. Can’t imagine we are going much over that. Wonder what is up with Wisconsin that coaches don’t want to stick around?

    • Don’t be sure he will run the Wisconsin style of football in Corvallis. His style at Utah State was different. The style he used at Wisconsin is a continuation of Barry Alvarez’s style, and there are some rumors that Andersen wanted more control over offensive changes.

  5. Comments from UW message board:

    “Recruiting was just starting to get rolling. This is awful. ”

    “OK. So can we stop pretending that “he was just adjusting/growing into the job” and admit that he was a shitty communicator who treated Joel [Stave] like shit and wasn’t ready to run a big time program?”

    Interesting

    • No on the “academic standards” thingy. Yes on assistants’ pay.

      The only places academic standards are more strict than the NCAA baseline:
      Rice. Northwestern, Colorado

      Duke and Stanford used to be in that group, but they can’t even pretend any more.

      • What standards the university might have enforced are the same standards enforced by any school (i.e. a couple years of language, some PE, etc.)

          • Edit: Those who say it and don’t specify that it’s the JUCO transfers who have the problems getting enrolled are telling a partial lie. The standards for incoming frosh is the same it is everywhere else except for the three I listed above.

            We might have a little experience with the whole JUCO transfer thingy.

  6. Have to think a big time coordinator is coming with Gary Andersen. It’s what he wanted at Wisconsin but wasn’t given the money to do so. Only way he takes the job. OSU is opening up the checkbook and it’s gonna pay off in a big way.

    • I hope he doesn’t bring Andy Ludwig with him as the guy was a dud at Oregon and Cal. Biggest accomplishment is developing future NFL bust David Carr. Although OSU did have Langsdorf and Garrett as their OCs…

  7. Ugh, I take a nap for one hour, and we hire a coach while I’m away.

    Defensive minded coach? I like it. Run-first kind of guy? I REALLY like it.

    Hope we can get some Wisconsin recruits to come with us. Not who I expected in the slightest, but REALLY happy with this hire.

  8. After Ohio State killed them I lurked on one of their boards to revel in their disappointment and shame. There were some hints that Anderson had a bitch session with Alverez about money and program support. Guess it was true, Barry hangs over the program and it is his baby.

  9. Congrats BDC! Yes, he didn’t facilitate Riley’s departure (that we know of), but he did capitalize on this opportunity.

    Rueck, Robinson do-over (“on second thought, you are fired”) with Tinkle upgrade, Anderson.

    VFC upgrades coming, ticket sales will increase with Anderson hire, well done.

  10. OK! Make sure you refer to him as “Andersen” tho.

    And didn’t I say that I trusted DeCarolis to make a good hire? Granted, it obviously wasn’t BDC alone that made the hire, but his recent track record (Rueck, Tinkle, Andersen) is showing good signs. Taking care of the big fish in football means a lot. About that contract…

    Also, what happens with some Wisconsin recruits? There’s a few that I think could easily shift their commitments (the ones from the mountains and California most likely).

  11. This news was worth a heal tap. Now I’m just counting down the moments until we meet our new coordinators! (no way Garret/Banker stay right?)

  12. Does any one else have concern on why he would leave Wisconsin? Could he be running from something? What is the motivation for him to come to OSU?

  13. He’s a run first HC. Not just at Wisconsin. At Utah St he relied heavily on the run.

    Wisconsin had a top 20 defense this year in yards and scoring including the big10 championship game.

    His ideal system is a spread option offense but he didn’t get to implement all of it at Wisconsin due to the awesome RBs he had. So nice to see that he’ll fit his offense to the personnel first and then implement his system. He runs the fly sweep play.

    A little more background, he’s coached under Urban Meyer at Utah. Was the DC for the undefeated Utah team that beat Alabama.

  14. The narrative on local sports radio…..

    “How could Oregon State pull a coach from Wisconsin??? Maybe we’ve underestimated the power of the PAC-12???”

    Fucking idiots…

  15. This is beyond my wildest dreamy imagination for what we’d get. I was going to be fine with Schiano.

    Rumors that it’s too difficult to get kids qualified to Wisconsin.

    I wonder if we can poach some of their class? Turnabout is fair play B1G.

  16. Got the defensive coach angry was looking for.

    Also since he runs a spread, maybe he’ll take a look at Baldwin for offensive coordinator.

    • Yeah I am stoked. He’s better than all the guys mentioned except maybe Kirby Smart (we’ll find out how good Smart is soon..pretty sure he will get a HC gig within the next year or two).

      • I’m lukewarm on the hire at the moment, yet based upon all that I’ve been able to read, it looks like a good hire, on paper. Now the next BIG steps are who he brings in as the D and O coordinators. That’s what will sway my vote.

        BTW, credit to those that said, watch it might be someone out of left field. Well it was!

  17. Re Beating the Ducks: Gary Anderson was an assistant to Urban Meyer at Utah, and GA ran a spread offense as head coach at Utah State. GA is a defense-oriented coach who should know how to defend against the spread offense (even if that wasn’t evident last week in Ohio State’s 59-0 victory over Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship game, which we must hope was an anomaly).

    Re Recruiting to Corvallis: GA has a reputation as a strong recruiter. “Andersen was named as the nation’s No. 1 non-BCS recruiter in 2005 by Rivals.com and a Rivals.com Top 10 non-BCS recruiter in 2008.” http://buckaround.com/latest-news/2012/12/28/gary-andersen-a-profile. It will be interesting to see what GA can do in this area….

  18. I like it….the Utes always had hard as nails defenses under Andersen. He did do a weird thing in going to Southern Utah (he was not successful there) for a year and then coming back, but that was quite awhjile ago. I just think it is cool that a coach from a perennial power left them after a 10 win season to come to OSU. Well’s team is basically Andersen’s players….Turbin and Wagner are very good NFL players. How about Keeton doing the “senior transfer” thing if he gets his medical redshirt and leading the Beavs offense?

  19. Funny, so sounds like OSU wanted to announce this at the press conference, but had to wait until after Wisconsin announced it to their players.
    The Wisconsin delayed their announcement so OSU could make their announcement, at the other announcement. Like another commenter said on here earlier, maybe that’s why Bob was acting so cranky.

  20. I cant say I know much about the guy, but Im stoked that we got a defense minded coach. I was really rooting against Frost and totally against Hoke.

    As far as Im concerned, we are now a blank slate and I get to be excited about Beaver football again next year (instead of dreading it)

  21. Gary Andersen signs new contract (March 24, 2014)

    Wisconsin on Monday approved a new compensation package for Gary Andersen that will pay the coach $300,000 more beginning in 2014.

    The new deal increases Andersen’s 2014 salary from $1.9 million to $2.2 million. He will receive a $100,000 raise each year of his five-year rollover contract. Wisconsin picked up Andersen’s rollover earlier this year.

    Rest of article: http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/10668955/gary-andersen-wisconsin-badgers-gets-raise-new-deal

  22. Gary Andersen to Oregon State

    Wisconsin coach Gary Andersen is leaving the school after two seasons to take the head coaching job at Oregon State, the school announced.

    Andersen replaces Mike Riley, who left the Beavers this month after 14 seasons to take the head job at Nebraska.

    Oregon State announced the news on Twitter on Wednesday afternoon.

    Rest of article: http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/12011785/wisconsin-badgers-coach-gary-andersen-leaving-take-oregon-state-job

    ————————
    OSU announced the news on Twitter on Wed afternoon?????

    • they wanted to do it at the same time as the Facilities upgrade presser, but waited to confirm that Coach Andersen had talked with his players, Keeping it classy.

  23. Home Run! Better than Matt Wells, you get his Mentor. Props OSU !

    He maybe a defensive guy, but he has coached/coordinated on both sides of the OC/DC.
    Way to step up Beaver Nation, I will be getting tickets this season. Can’t wait for Recruiting season! It will be great to have a staff that is willing to compete for recruits.

  24. Two facts Conner just had in a blurb about Anderson.

    >>> In Andersen’s first year at the helm, Wisconsin boasted the nation’s No. 7-ranked total defense and the No. 18 total offense. The Badgers rank No. 4 this season in total defense and No. 23 in total offense.

    >>> The Badgers set program records last year for total offense (480.8 yards per game) and rushing yards in a season (3,689). This year, Wisconsin is averaging 464.8 total yards per game and its 4,082 rushing yards are easily a new program record.

    • God damn. I’m not much Ludwig but those are pretty serious numbers.

      That’s also with mostly someone else’s recruits that I’m guessing weren’t exactly suited to his offense. I’m thinking there’s enough speed on the roster to make it happen fairly quickly.

  25. Great hire! I really liked that Utah State team a couple years ago, and I was bummed when Wisconsin hired him because I hoped he would come here and replace Riley. Funny how things work out sometimes!

  26. I don’t like the choice-

    1) Destroys my “mediocre is ok” mantra I chant everyday
    2) Makes me wonder if I’m overpaying for a free subscription to the Blitz
    3) Will make AngryBeavs.com inactive, as we run out of issues to complain about (err..discuss)

  27. Next order of business…..cancel my free Rivals subscription…..
    maybe I’ll wait a day or 2 just in case recruiting news heats up, but for the 2 days I had that subscription, I didn’t learn anything I couldn’t have gotten from 3 other places for free.

    • Can I cuss again?

      Recruiting can just go to hell. I don’t care.

      You tell me a week ago that Riley would quit and we would get Andersen… I’m looking at you like I look at HireMattWells’ posts and walking away thinking you’re a rube… like I feel about HireMa… oh fuck it… beaver byte… osbeaver… whatever.

  28. +++++: “Run the ball dammit!”

    ———: tOSU 59 Wisconsin 0

    If we could hire Saban I figure his ceiling with the 2015 Beavs would have been 7 wins max. The new guy won’t be far behind that. 5 or 6 wins, no total implosion, the team gets rebuilt and three seasons from now we’re back in the hunt with our rebuilt Orange & Black race car.

    I’ll consider that acceptable.

  29. De Carolis said high school and college kids are drawn to schools with state of the art facilities.

    “Let’s face it, for 17-year-olds, that kind of stuff is important to them,” De Carolis said. “Now when they get older, they change. But right now in their life, whether it’s uniforms, whether it’s the bling that comes along with uniforms, whether it’s facilities. All that stuff is important, so you have to keep up with it.

    “You don’t have to be over the top necessarily, but it needs to be quality.”

  30. Jack, you seem surly, are you happy with hire?

    On another note, I am so stoked and it has been a great ride with all of you. Left field, yes. I love it. This could have gone so badly and I am more than pleased we dug in and made a big bet. A new day beaver nation… let’s have fun.

  31. Preface: Love the hire, and nobody saw it coming.

    Point 1: BDC didn’t make this hire. He definitely didn’t say, “You know who I should interview? Wisconsin’s coach that is 9-3 this year and just signed an extension.” Anderson wanted out and called BDC.

    Point 2: Anderson lost his 2 biggest games this year and was utterly destroyed by an excellent Ohio St. He also lost his bowl game last year. So while I’m hoping he’s as good a coach and recruiter as we think, that’s an…interesting track record.

  32. As with Riley’s departure, i feel like opening something to celebrate. Been waiting 5 years for this.

    WhiskeySoaked, link ac/dc’s “Let’s play ball” audio. I can’t seem to link it in my phone for some reason…

  33. Ohio State 59 Wisconsin 0

    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?

      • Thanks for the link.

        Imo Andersen handled it better than Riley would have but…..

        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.

        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 or god forbid, even worse.

  34. Just got through talking to one of my friends who follows Wisconsin and the Packers closely, this is what he had to say regarding their former HC: (conversation is marked as WI for him and OR for me)

    WI: Andersen is bad, man.
    WI: Guy can’t manage end-game stuff.
    OR: Such as?
    WI: Bad timeouts, not running Melvin Gordon in 2nd half vs LSU, etc.

    OR: Well, first question, does he at least use his timeouts?
    WI: Yeah.
    OR: Riley made a habit of not calling timeout and letting 20-30 seconds run off the clock then he’s like oh crap shoulda called timeout.
    WI: Yikes
    OR: And calls it when the time’s already gone.

    OR: There’s a rumor going around that Alvarez wouldn’t let him run the spread. Any truth you think?
    WI: True yeah.

    OR: I saw bits and pieces of the LSU game – think it’s possible he didn’t realize quite what he had at that time?
    WI: I have zero explanation for that game.
    WI: No one here did.
    WI: We’re used to McCarthy (Packers HC) and competence.

    OR: Question: What happened against Ohio State? Didn’t see much of the game
    WI: Literally nothing.
    WI: We’re thinking he threw the game on purpose
    OR: It’s hard for a coach to throw a game without the players being involved?
    WI: Just called bad plays, players might have known about the departure and took plays off, etc
    OR: They try to run Gordon?
    WI: Gordon ran into walls
    WI: Like no energy there
    WI: Just hit a wall, gave up, went down
    WI: The whole game made no sense

    Some interesting thoughts there from a guy whose football IQ i completely respect, I don’t think he’d say these things lightly, so they are concerns that are worth noting. I basically just told you what he told me verbatim.

    • That all sounds like stuff I have heard too. Not everyone was happy with Andersen, especially after he was apparently caught backtracking on a Stave injury. And the Ohio State game might as well have been the end of days around here. As for the rumors about the spread, I am hearing that was a big factor. Alvarez is almost like the Godfather here in Wisconsin. You don’t cross the Godfather…

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