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Utah State Announces Hiring Of Gary Andersen
Andersen is back for Round 2 at Utah State
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Gary returns to Logan for second stint.
Utah State has officially announced that Gary Andersen will be the next head coach for the Aggies football program. There will be an introductory press conference regarding Andersen on Tuesday, Dec. 11 at 11 a.m. MT.
“We welcome Gary and Stacey and their family back to the Utah State family,” said Utah State athletics director John Hartwell. “His care-factor for his players, coupled with his recruiting philosophy and plan to win, are keys to the continued success of Aggie football. His knowledge of the state of Utah and our program are unparalleled and we feel those attributes will greatly aid in the continued growth and success of Aggie football.”
Andersen replaces Matt Wells who recently took the head coaching job at Texas Tech. In an odd twist, Andersen is replacing his replacement with the Aggies as it was Wells who became the head coach at Utah State when Andersen left for the Wisconsin job after the 2012 season.
In his first go around with the Aggies, Andersen was 26-24, two bowl appearances, a bowl win in 2012 where the team finished as WAC champions with an 11-2 record and was the league’s coach of the year as well.
“Stacey and I are thrilled to be back at Utah State University,” said Andersen. “This is a special place and we are excited to meet these young men and play a part in seeing them succeed off and on the field academically, socially and athletically. We are grateful to reconnect with many great friends and supporters in Logan and want to thank John Hartwell and President (Noelle) Cockett for the opportunity. Go Aggies!”
Since leaving Utah State back in 2012, Andersen was very successful at Wisconsin going 20-7 in two years and appeared in the conference title game in his second season.
He also was the head coach at Oregon State in an abrupt move leaving Wisconsin but that only lasted 30 games before stepping down part way through the 2017 season and decided to not take the $12 million owed to him on his contract.
This past year, Andersen was the assistant head coach at Utah as well as coaching the defensive line. That Ute defense was one of the best in the country and tops in the Pac-12 in multiple categories.
We will see if the second go-around in Logan for Andersen will continue the success he started six years ago.
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