Key takeaways from USU football head coach Gary Andersen’s introductory press conference
New (and old) Utah State football head coach Gary Andersen was officially introduced at a press conference in the West Stadium Center at Maverik Stadium earlier today. Both USU President Noelle E. Cockett and USU Director of Athletics John Hartwell spoke at the event before also allowing Andersen to briefly address and interact with media and fans in attendance.
With only a few days having passed since Andersen’s hire was first announced by Utah State, exact details about Andersen’s goals and vision for the next few years of Aggie football were few, though we did learn several important things about Andersen and the future of USU football. If you weren’t able to watch today’s press conference, here’s some of the key things you missed.
“Cache Valley is where we wanted to be.”
Granted, with Andersen leaving once before, Aggie fans may be warranted in adopting a “believe it when I see it” attitude, but Andersen did his best to illustrate his desire to stay in Cache Valley for the long haul.
“This has always been where we planned to end it. We’re fortunate… Cache Valley is where we wanted to be. Anybody who knows us has known that for a long time,” Andersen said. “To me, in the game of football, when you get six or seven wins and you can hopefully get to a bowl game, it is technically a good year because you get a reward. When you get to eight or nine wins, that’s a great year. When you get double-digit wins, that’s an elite year. I would love to get Utah State to the point where we are consistently seeing those types of efforts, where it’s great and elite.”
Andersen also explained that even after leaving USU in 2012, he and his wife, Stacey, never sold their house, allowing their children to live there while attending Utah State. With family already living in the state, Andersen reiterated on multiple occasions their desire to remain in Logan for years to come.
“It’s not hard to find people who want to coach at Utah State.”
A key to Gary Andersen being able to replicate his success from his first stint at Utah State will be his choice in coordinators and assistant coaches, plus a new strength and conditioning coach. With numerous assistants following former head coach Matt Wells to Texas Tech, the need to fill the staff with quality hires is imperative. While no names were dropped at the conference, Andersen did lead on that the situation will soon be resolved.
“I feel very good and confident about the defensive coordinator,” Andersen said. “Initially, I was going to be the defensive coordinator and was excited about it. But, as soon as we got in this process, I had an individual approach me and wants to do it. There are very few people right now who I would say ‘I want you to do the defense,’ but that guy is there, and I think that’s solidified.”
With the defensive plan possibly in place, Andersen said that offense and the team’s strength and conditioning coach will be a priority in the coming weeks.
“On the offensive side of the ball, we’re going to interview a couple of people as we move through this week and, hopefully, get that done sooner than later,” Andersen said. “The one thing I am going to do this time that I’ve done a little different is I will take my time. I’d like to get those coordinators and know who they are. I’d like to get them solidified. But, then I’d like those coordinators to feel comfortable and be involved in the process with hiring those other assistants. That’s vital to this process.”
Kerwynn Williams gets a hug post-game from Coach Gary Andersen after USU’s big bowl victory./Delayne Locke photo
Andersen also plans to use the recently renovated facilities to his advantage in hiring a new strength and conditioning coach.
“I have a couple of strength coaches that have not seen that facility,” Andersen said. “We will get some people up here to see this facility and understand that facility. We’ll get the right guy in there. We’re very excited about that job because it’s an unbelievable facility to get to train the players in.”
“Those two games were extremely special.”
Asked what his favorite victory from his first run as coach at USU, Andersen was unable to pick only one. An obvious choice was USU’s 27-20 overtime victory over Utah at home in 2012. The FBS opener, that game set the tone for the Aggies to have a remarkable season. Andersen’s second choice was the capstone of that regular season.
“We came back after the Louisiana Tech game and we played Idaho here for the last game, that was a special game,” Andersen said. “We had a championship, we were going to celebrate, but those players still came out. It was important for them to go win another game. It was great moments down there and I’m looking forward to more.”
USU FOOTBALL COACH Gary Andersen celebrates USU football WAC. DELAYNE LOCKE photo
With the WAC crown already in hand, USU defeated Idaho 45-9 to finish the regular season 10-2. Andersen and the rest of Utah State are certainly hoping for similar memories in the future. Tuesday was talk. Now it’s time for Andersen to get to work.