Oregon State athletic director Todd Stansbury is leaving for Georgia Tech. The news was first reported by USA Today and Stansbury is expected to be introduced at a news conference at Georgia Tech today.

But enough about him.

Today is as much about Oregon State's future as anything. Because football coach Gary Andersen must again be wondering what he signed on for when he left Wisconsin for Corvallis. It was 21 months ago when Andersen sat in a room in Rockford, Ill. along with then-OSU athletic director Bob De Carolis and chief deputy Mark Massari, working out the details on the job.

The football coach was hired in December, De Carolis was out by May and Stansbury was in by June. No secret, either, that Andersen wasn't brought into the fold with the change in regime. The football coach never appeared to connect with Stansbury, who was a cold and formal fish cast against Andersen's down-home, back-slapping, lunch-bucket persona.

So what now?

Make Andersen comfortable. That's first and foremost. He's coached 14 football games, and his 15th on Saturday against Boise State, may come under an interim athletic director. That's Andersen's third boss. The next hire, and the way it goes down, is going to speak to Andersen and the future of the football program.

The stable of Oregon State coaches is a strength. I'm buying what Andersen is selling in football and what Wayne Tinkle has going in men's basketball. Scott Rueck has been brilliant in women's basketball and Pat Casey might be the best baseball coach in America. But given the investment in Reser Stadium and the revenue opportunity available there, football drives the bus on the hire.

Keep in mind, Andersen has shifted jobs, moved his family and set up shop again. The football coach also said something a day in front of the Stansbury news that got my attention.

"I love the ability to build something and continually fight through it when a lot of people are saying 'It's not going to happen,' or 'You're going to fail,'" he said on Wednesday. "... I love this fight. I love this much more than being in a place that's an established program and we just kept it going.

"That just doesn't blow up my skirt... I look forward to building it and stabilizing it for a long time -- the last time in my career."

Last time?

First time I've heard Andersen say that.

It was an off-the-cuff remark. One I asked him again about later. He reiterated the effort and hard work that it takes to build the infrastructure of a successful program. He confirmed his commitment. Andersen feels like he has that in place now. On Wednesday he also said, "I've been here before... I don't know when it's going to turn around and flip, but I know we're taking the right path to get it done."

The new AD inherits that hope.

Andersen has won everywhere he's been. The underlying fear at Oregon State when he left Wisconsin was that he'd use Corvallis as a stepping stone to somewhere better. But it's become evident in talking with him, and watching him adhere to the community, that he isn't looking for a way out.

Not yet. And Dr. Ray would be wise to seize on that when making this hire. It's why he must do something he didn't do when hiring Stansbury -- Andersen must be in the room. The football coach must feel connected to the AD, as if he's in a partnership. And it has to feel like his football program's arc is well insulated from the chaos and drama of the revolving job.

The only answer internally is to promote Massari, the long-standing deputy, to an interim position. Then, launch a search, I guess. Except this is an awful time of year to conduct a search. A sitting athletic director isn't likely to do what Stansbury, a Georgia Tech alum, did and bolt mid-year. It would take a special circumstance to make that happen.

Massari is a strong and promising candidate for the permanent job. He has institutional knowledge. He has experience as an athletic director at UC Santa Barbara. He navigated the De Carolis to Stansbury transition masterfully, and has become Andersen's football liaison within the department.

During the season opener against Minnesota, Massari was on the field beside the football coaches all game. He could have sat in the visiting AD's box, but chose the sideline instead. After the game, he stood with the Beavers coaches, directing players to gather and sing the university fight song.

In that, Massari is already Andersen's guy. Also, he's the only person left who remembers the promises that were made to Andersen when took the job at Oregon State.

Casey, the baseball coach, is also an internal possibility. Although, if he really wanted the job I suspect he'd have snatched it up when Stansbury was hired. We've seen coaches attempt the AD role before. It's a grind. The concern would have to be that the workload would cannibalize the success of the baseball program. So there's that.

The only other logical solution becomes Pittsburgh athletic director Scott Barnes. If Andersen had been let into the room before the Stansbury hire I suspect Barnes would have been his guy.

Barnes, 54, worked with Andersen at Utah State. He's also a Northwest guy, born in Spokane. He's been chairman of the Men's NCAA Basketball Tournament Selection Committee, played college basketball himself, and his athletics departments have won multiple championships.

Pittsburgh hired him because he resurrected the image of Utah State athletics. But Oregon State should look hard at him and gauge his interest because of Andersen's comfort level. Aside from Massari, he's the only option that brings that kind of Andersen-warmth into the discussion.

Oregon State is on the right trajectory. The college athletics game is all about facilities now. The Beavers fundraisers are better than ever, the vision is clear, the coaches, between Tinkle, Rueck, Casey and Andersen, are like the four horsemen.

This AD hire must feel like the fifth.

--- @JohnCanzanoBFT