Saturday Blitz
Fansided

Gary Andersen Leaving Wisconsin for Oregon State

By Caleb Calhoun

facebooktwitterreddit

For the second time in three years, the Wisconsin Badgers are in search of a new head football coach.

Gary Andersen is leaving to take the job at Oregon State, replacing Mike Riley, who left for Nebraska, according to reports you can see here. Now, former legendary Badgers Head Coach Barry Alvarez, who is now the school’s athletic director, is once again looking for a replacement.

In 2012, Bret Bielema left Wisconsin to take the job at Arkansas.

What is inexplicable about both cases is it is not like Andersen or Bielema left for more prestigious jobs. Arkansas is about the same level as Wisconsin, and it is a much harder place to win at given the competition. Meanwhile, Oregon State is a less prestigious job, and it is still hard to win at.

Neither position made sense, but according to Alvarez, Andersen cited family issues as the reason for his move.

More from College Football News

Whatever the reason is, Oregon State has found a head coach, and a pretty darn good one at that.

Gary Anderson was able to turn Utah State into a winning college football program before his move to Wisconsin, and he has been able to keep up the tradition of power football and running between the tackles that Wisconsin fans take so much pride in.

Now, he’s going to have to do the same thing at Oregon State, and the honest truth is that it should be a great idea. In the Pac-12, only a few teams play power football, and they pose serious match-up problems for the rest of the conference, built around high-powered offenses and finesse.

This is also a way for the Beavers to contrast their in-state rivals, the Oregon Ducks. A case can be made that Andersen is better for the job than Riley. Only time will determine that.

More from Saturday Blitz

Home/College Football News