Why? Why would former Wisconsin Badgers head coach Gary Andersen bolt out of nowhere from a perennial Big Ten Conference title contender for the ugly step child of the state of Oregon…The Oregon State Beavers. A team that last won a share of the Pac-12 title in 2000 which was their first Conference championship since 1965 and just the fifth in their history.
Compare that to Wisconsin, who has won the Big Ten title with three in a row as recently as 2010, 2011, and 2012. On the surface it doesn’t make any sense why Andersen would leave a program sitting well within reach of the Big 12 West Division title each year for a program that will always operate as the Oregon Ducks little brother.
But as is always the case in college football, there could be many hidden motives behind Andersen’s departure.
A Bad Cultural Fit
“He is a west coast guy and never understood Wisconsin,” said a UW athletic department employee who refused to be named. Madison, Wisconsin is a party town and hell raising city compared to the docile state of Utah, where Andersen is from. Add that to the pressure of Big Ten football, and it was likely too much for him to take.
Barry’s Shadow
The shadow of Athletic Director and former Badger head coach Barry Alvarez looms large at the University of Wisconsin. Alvarez is justifiably celebrated as the savior and father of the program to this very day. Alvarez had a 118-74-4 career record and won three Big Ten titles at UW.
The Badgers had not won a Big Ten championship since 1962 before Alvarez took over and made them into something of a Big Ten power. The state of Wisconsin worships Alvarez to this day and previous head coach Brett Bielema departed for Arkansas in 2012 based in large part to being fatigued with the Barry Love in Madison despite winning three Big Ten titles in his own right.
Ignore Coach Speak for Coach Action
Andersen will no doubt talk about his roots in the Pacific Northwest and the nearby state of Utah. He will offer platitudes about how wonderful the Wisconsin experience was. But, then there is the truth. Andersen went 19-7 at Wisconsin with a roster largely stocked by Bielema. It is a fair and reasonable assumption that Andersen, an outsider to the Midwest, could have been struggling with recruiting in a region that he was unfamiliar with.
An Ugly Ending
Andersen did lead Wisconsin to a West Division title, but the Big Ten Championship Game was a humiliating debacle. Wisconsin was schooled by Ohio State 59-0 in a game in which the Badgers came off as totally unprepared and uninspired. The one dimensional Wisconsin offense that relied totally on RB Melvin Gordon lacked the passing game necessary to stay in such games. The fact that Gordon is moving on early to the NFL could not have helped Andersen’s desire to stay at Madison. Andersen is likely getting out while the getting is good and has the coach’s sense to do so.
Afraid of the Big Stage?
Not only are Bielema’s recruits departing at a rapid rate but Andersen was likely unprepared for the job at Wisconsin after arriving from Utah State. To his credit, Andersen is something of the Barry Alvarez of Utah State but the fact remains it was not a Power Five Conference job and a good crowd was considered to be in the area of 25,000 compared to the plus 75,000 fans at UW’s Camp Randall Stadium. Scrutiny and pressure is much greater in Madison with spoiled fans that have become accustomed to contending for Big Ten titles and Rose Bowls.
Comfort Zone
Corvallis, Ore. is the obscure town in which Oregon State is located. Expectations are low, as is scrutiny. It should be a good fit for Andersen after finding that the bright lights of high expectations at a Big Ten power in a foreign part of the country proved to be too great for him to handle. Now he can operate in the shadow of the Nike funded Oregon Ducks with small expectations and fan demands in a quiet town lost in the woods of the Northwest.
