Wisconsin Badgers Head Coach Gary Anderson Takes Oregon State Job

Last week everyone was scratching their heads when Nebraska grabbed their next head coach from Corvallis in hiring Mike Riley. Today the college football world might be a little more shocked that Wisconsin head coach (and former Utah State head coach) Gary Anderson is leaving the Badgers to take on the role of Oregon State head coach.

Here's what our compatriots over at Bucky's 5th Quarter are saying about the move. They appear to believe that the problem rests in a similar complaint to what Bret Bielema cited for heading out the door:

Andersen ran into same wall that Bielema did: UW admin wouldn't adjust to assistant coach marketplace and relative academic standards.

— Travis Haney (@TravHaneyESPN) December 10, 2014

According to the assistant coaches salary data posted earlier, Wisconsin ranks just ahead of Oregon State in terms of assistant compensation. Wisconsin's assistant payroll is $2,368,600, while Oregon State's is $2,347,200. I assume Oregon State promised him that they would be more than willing to increase that number dramatically.

So now we're still looking for a defensive coordinator, and Wisconsin is going to be looking for a head coach. I just hope Barry Alvarez doesn't decide to coach one more game, again. His final official game as head coach of the Badgers was against Auburn in the 2005/06 Capital One Bowl. That game did not turn out well for the Tigers.

Just another part of the silly season in terms of coaching. It seems there's always one crazy coaching change. Who would have expected both of them to involve Oregon State? As for where Wisconsin turns from here, I have no idea. The quick assumption is Pittsburgh head coach Paul Chryst, who is the former OC at Wisconsin. I'll have to send you over to Bucky's 5th Quarter for better analysis on that.