For just the second time in the last three years, Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez will spend the holiday season looking for a new head football coach. He must also consider whether he’ll accept the seniors invitation to coach the Badgers in the New Years Day Outback Bowl after Gary Andersen said he’s leaving Wisconsin after just two seasons on the job.
Andersen has accepted the head coaching position at Oregon State, replacing Mike Riley who left the school to take over at Nebraska. Oregon State plans to introduce Andersen at a news conference on Friday. Anderson told Alvarez he was leaving Madison for family reasons.
Alvarez certainly didn’t see this coming. But what’s somewhat concerning is that Wisconsin has all of a sudden become a stepping stone job. Alvarez will be looking to change that with his next coaching hire.
The Wisconsin athletic director said he wants to find a new coach with head coaching experience. He said it has to be a good fit for Wisconsin and Badger nation is hopeful the next coach will be somebody that wants to stick around for a while. [Read more…]