Wisconsin Left Coachless After Gary Andersen Surprisingly Bolts For Oregon State

After Oregon State lost its head coach to Nebraska last week, no one was thinking they’d steal a coach back away from the Big Ten. But that’s exactly what’s happened. In news that can only be described as shocking, Gary Andersen is leaving Wisconsin to become the Beavers’ new head football coach.

Anderson spent just two years in Madison after replacing Bret Bielema, and had success in both seasons (including a trip to the Big Ten title game this season). He was apparently one of five finalists for the vacant Oregon State position, and informed his Badger players that he was taking the job earlier today.

Wisconsin A.D. Barry Alvarez is already moving forward with the search for his next head football coach.

Clearly, there’s more going on here than meets the eye. Andersen is a West Coast guy (from Utah, coached at Utah State), but that alone doesn’t explain his decision to leave for a lesser-program. Or maybe it is just as simple as his style not working out as planned at Wisconsin?

Much more to come as details of this shocking coaching change emerge.