During his postgame news conference, Andersen
refused to single out his placekicker. Instead, he
said, ���We had an opportunity to win against a quality opponent. We expected to win when we walked
in here (Camp Randall) and we didn���t get it done.
They made one more play than we did.������
Alvarez filed everything away and put Andersen
on his short list; a pool of potential head coaching
candidates that every athletic director compiles out
of self-preservation. When Bret Bielema left for Arkansas in early December, Alvarez went to his list
and sought out the right fit.
The search eventually led Alvarez to the 48-yearold Andersen. After a couple of phone conversations before and after Utah State���s bowl win over
Toledo, the two met face-to-face Monday in Min-
���He���s a legitimate guy ���
no false pretenses, no big
ego ��� he���s a ball coach,������
Alvarez observed. ���What
you see is what you get.
Whatever he says, he���s
going to do, and he says
this is his destination job.������
neapolis. Alvarez liked what he heard ��� confirming what others had been saying about Andersen.
That included Ohio State���s Urban Meyer, one
of Andersen���s mentors.
In 2004, Meyer was Utah���s head coach and
Andersen coached the defensive line. Those Utes,
quarterbacked by Alex Smith, capped a perfect
12-0 season with a 35-7 thumping of Pittsburgh
in the Fiesta Bowl. Meyer���s defensive coordinator was Kyle Whittingham, another mentor to
Andersen who is now Utah���s head coach.
���I talked to Urban about him (Andersen),������ Alvarez said. ���He���s had some very good assistants,
like Whittingham. Urban told me that Gary is in
the top five of all of them; he���s the real deal. I said,
���Would he fit here? Would he fit in the Big Ten?���
He said, ���Absolutely.���������
Alvarez was already sold on Andersen based on
what he knew and what his instincts were telling
him. ���He���s a legitimate guy ��� no false pretenses, no big ego ��� he���s a ball coach,������ he observed.
���What you see is what you get. Whatever he says,
he���s going to do, and he says this is his destination job.������
Alvarez was joined in Minneapolis by deputy
athletic director Sean Frazier and senior associate athletic director Walter Dickey. After listening to Andersen talk about his plan and philosophies, Dickey turned to Alvarez and said, ���If I
had a blindfold on, I would have thought I was
listening to you.������
��� ��� ��� ���
25
