Andersen began his coaching career as a defensive coordinator. In fact, he was the defensive coordinator of the Utah Utes, who in 1008 went undefeated and defeated the Alabama Crimson Tide in the 2009 Sugar Bowl. In 2009 Andersen became the head coach of the Utah State Aggies.
His first two years coaching the Aggies Andersen went 4-8. in 2011 he improved their overall record to 7-6, and finally as noted in this article, in 2012 he led them to an 11-2 year.
Can Gary bring the success he found with Utah State in the Mountain West to the Wisconsin Badgers in the Big Ten? It's a good and fair question. Obviously he is going to find tougher competition in the Big Ten, most notably the Ohio State Buckeyes, Michigan Wolverines, Michigan State Spartans, and Nebrask Cornhuskers, among others.
Andersen is a defensive coach, which isn't a bad thing, especially in the Big Ten. He will be competing against other top defensive coaches such as Brady Hoke (of the Michigan Wolverines) who has defensive coordinator Greg Mattison (who is known for coaching the phenomenal defense of the Baltimore Ravens).
The Badgers didn't do as well as many expected in 2012, so I think Wisconsin will be looking to come out on fire and try to take the Big Ten Leaders Division Title, however with a new coach you're never really sure how a team will perform. As we get closer to fall we will be able to see what kind of shape Gary is whipping his new team into. And until then the Badgers can know that they have a leader that although it may not seem to matter a whole lot, seems to be a stand up guy in that after he made the decision to leave Utah State, he called each one of his players individually to let them know about his decision.
- Matt Lytle
@mattlytle
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