Paul Myerberg

USA TODAY Sports

CORVALLIS, Ore. — Gary Andersen has yet to stray more than two miles in any direction from the heart of Oregon State's football facilities, instead spending much of his time shuttling between his hotel room and the new corner office — still bare, minus a computer and television — that overlooks Reser Stadium's turf field.

This is Andersen's new home, surprisingly enough.

The path from Wisconsin, where Andersen spent two successful seasons, to here began during the days leading up to a Big Ten Championship matchup with Ohio State. Specifically, it began during a defensive game-planning meeting with Andersen and Dave Aranda, the Badgers' defensive coordinator.

Safeties coach Bill Busch interrupted the meeting with breaking news: Mike Riley, the longtime coach at Oregon State, is going to Nebraska, Busch said.

Aranda didn't believe it — yeah, right, he said. Andersen, who viewed Riley as a "career guy" at Oregon State — much like his former boss, Utah coach Kyle Whittingham — was equally surprised.

The room went back to work, searching for weak links in the Buckeyes' potent offense, but the news lingered with Andersen.

"My mind went kind of like, 'Jeez, that's a place that's always kind of raised my antenna a little bit. Could be a special place,' " Andersen told USA TODAY Sports. "This was definitely a place that I thought a lot about in my coaching career."

It took a week to connect the dots. Oregon State made first contact, reaching out to Andersen's agent, Ken Vierra, after Wisconsin's loss to Ohio State. By Tuesday, Andersen had discussed the opening with Vierra, weighed the opportunity with his family and come to a decision: Let's do it.

"I make decisions in funny ways," he said. "People think I'm crazy when I say I believe I'm told what to do, and that's what I do.

"But I listen to my dad, and he's been gone for a long time. I think between my dad and God, they lead me where I'm supposed to go. That's the only way I can answer it. And I'm always going to go that way. It's just the way I'm cut up. If I didn't, my 90-year-old mom would slap me in my face."

Surprising? Maybe, if taken at face value. The basic facts: Andersen traded in Wisconsin, which has reached the Rose Bowl three times in the past five seasons, for Oregon State, which has three losing seasons in its last five tries.

But the move fits into Andersen's personality — that of a coach who identifies more with the underdog than the favorite, who embraces a fight rather than runs from the challenge.

The facts of the matter might suggest something else altogether: Oregon State fits Andersen better than Wisconsin ever could.

"I can tell you this," said Andersen. "I'm perfectly at peace with myself. I feel like this is a great fit. And I think it's a fight that I'm excited about."

***

"Everybody wants to think I left (Wisconsin) because of a lot of things," Andersen said.

Among the most discussed: Andersen's relationship with Wisconsin athletics director Barry Alvarez, the Badgers' former coach and the architect, during a decade-plus span along the sidelines, of the program's rise to national prominence. But Andersen called his relationship with Alvarez "fantastic."

"I don't like to leave," he said. "I mean, I hate it. I don't want to be a bounce-around guy, that I'm going to do this and I'm going to do that. People can make that out of the Wisconsin thing, I guess, if that's what they want to do. I can't worry about that. It's not who I am."

Nor was his departure impacted by the 59-0 loss to Ohio State, one that laid bare the gap — widening by the season, if not by the week — between the Buckeyes and the rest of the Big Ten, even if the defeat sent Andersen into a "deep, dark place."

"It does force you to sit back and reevaluate," he said. "But again, is that a reason to leave a school? No, it's not a reason to leave a school — because you won 10 games, you know."

Oregon State, in comparison, won five. This year's team took just two games in Pac-12 play, finishing last in the North Division, and capped the year with lopsided losses to Washington and rival Oregon — the latter the program's seventh in a row in the Civil War.

The differences between the two programs are obvious. If not among the nation's elite, Wisconsin has established itself as a perennial contender for double-digit wins and a major bowl; Oregon State, on the other hand, seemed to head into the offseason as far removed from national contention as at any point during Riley's second run with the program, which began in 2003.

In fact, Oregon State seems to share more in common with Utah State, where Andersen compiled a 26-24 record from 2009-12 – winning four games in each of his first two years before reaching back-to-back bowl games and a program-record 11 victories in his final season.

There's something about being the underdog, a running theme throughout Andersen's coaching career. Utah ran behind Brigham Young before catching and then passing the Cougars. Utah State was third in the state on Andersen's arrival; the Aggies finished his fourth season ranked No. 17 in the Amway Coaches Poll.

"I don't look at (Oregon State) any different than really I looked at Wisconsin," Andersen said. "I don't look at one place and say maybe because there's 30,000 thousand more seats, or 20,000 or whatever, that it makes it that much bigger. It doesn't have that feel to me."

Some things won't change: Oregon State, like Utah State and Wisconsin before, will build a foundation on "core values," Andersen said.

"You learn something at every place. But I think you also carry your core. It's like offense, defense, special teams — you've got to be flexible. You've got to learn your environment and you've got to be open-minded."

***

Even if Oregon State had been on Andersen's mind, his knowledge of the program came entirely from games against the Beavers as an assistant coach at Utah — losing in Corvallis in 2007 and winning by a field goal in Salt Lake City a year later.

So as his wife, Stacey, researched the community, Andersen made calls — just two, in fact. One was to Whittingham, perhaps his closest friend in the coaching profession, along with Utah State coach Matt Wells. The second was to Utah defensive coordinator Kilane Sitake, whose first full-time position came under Andersen at Southern Utah in 2003.

He asked each what they thought about Oregon State. "They know me," Andersen said. "They obviously have great respect for Oregon State."

Whittingham and Sitake had the same response: It's a perfect it. It's where you want to be.

After taking the position, Andersen heard from Urban Meyer. The two had coached together for just a single season at Utah in 2004 but quickly built a strong bond.

"First thing he said was, 'Wow,' " Andersen said of Meyer. "He was happy because I'm happy."

Meyer's influence extends to Andersen's image for Oregon State's offense. His defense will remain rooted in the status quo, the sort of aggressive, opportunistic style Andersen has leaned upon throughout his coaching career. Even after the loss to Ohio State, Wisconsin entered the postseason ranked fourth nationally in total defense; each of the past three Andersen-coached teams — two with the Badgers, one with the Aggies — finished inside the top 15 nationally in the category.

Offensively, however, he hopes to blend two systems: one, the wide-open approach used during his final season at Utah State, and two, Meyer's spread-based style from Ohio State.

The Beavers won't be a fast-paced spread, snapping the ball every 10 seconds, Andersen said, but nor will they "just sit there and ram power (offense) up your ass for an hour."

It's a plan that speaks to Andersen's evolution as a coach — and, perhaps, speaks to a slight aversion to Wisconsin's meat-and-potatoes offensive identity, a punishing yet plodding method that lacked wrinkles even as it found success against Big Ten competition.

"We're going to spread out the field," he said. "Can't beat them, join them at some point. I think there's a happy medium. It's a great equalizer."

***

With Oregon State's season complete, Andersen will spend the coming weeks focused on two tasks: hiring a staff and recruiting — in that order.

He hopes to have his staff settled by the end of the week; since accepting the job, Andersen has waited for a few potential hires to "clear their minds." He's made one staffing move, retaining well-regarded wide receivers coach Brent Brennan from Riley's staff.

Since last week, he's spoken with recruits who have given Oregon State non-binding verbal commitments — saying he'll honor those commitments, but also educate those prospects who chose the Beavers under the previous staff about his vision for the program.

Recruiting to Corvallis isn't easy: Oregon is less than hour to the south, for one, and the Riley-coached Beavers looked for developmental, under-the-radar, moldable prospects over ready-made stars. Besides, the latter rarely chose Oregon State, instead settling on the Ducks, USC, UCLA, Washington and other programs in the Pac-12.

"I was a walk-on," Andersen said. "I had to fight my ass off to walk on. Maybe I do feel myself leaning toward those kids a little bit."

No, it won't be easy — to recruit talent, to build a contender, to beat Oregon, to lift Oregon State out of its current slide and into the national conversation.

But that suits Andersen, just as Oregon State as a whole seems to match the personality of Beavers' surprising but fitting hire.

"I've got juice right now," he said. "I like this fight."

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