[CTcard]

To do some personal accountability, I though Oregon State's hire of Gary Andersen was a great coup. Obviously that didn't exactly work out.

The OSU-Gary Andersen experience was odd in many ways.

I was immediately disdainful of the hire, not because I thought Andersen was a bad coach but because I was fairly appalled that Andersen publicly stated that a main reason for going to OSU was so that he could be free to recruit worse students.

Andersen then proceeded to take an OSU team that had gone 9-4, 7-6, 5-7 to records of 2-10 and 4-8. That turn-around came with consistent media discussion of the great job he was doing rebuilding the OSU program. Wilner was a particular cheer leader. Of course that story-line finally collapsed this season.


... and for his predecessor, and kind-of successor, I will always have a soft spot in my heart for Mike Riley because he took my home town Winnipeg Blue Bombers to two Grey Cup championships in his four years there, the most since Bud Grant got 4 before heading to the Minnesota Vikings in 1967. And we've had none since.

[CTcard]

To do some personal accountability, I though Oregon State's hire of Gary Andersen was a great coup. Obviously that didn't exactly work out.

The OSU-Gary Andersen experience was odd in many ways.

I was immediately disdainful of the hire, not because I thought Andersen was a bad coach but because I was fairly appalled that Andersen publicly stated that a main reason for going to OSU was so that he could be free to recruit worse students.

Andersen then proceeded to take an OSU team that had gone 9-4, 7-6, 5-7 to records of 2-10 and 4-8. That turn-around came with consistent media discussion of the great job he was doing rebuilding the OSU program. Wilner was a particular cheer leader. Of course that story-line finally collapsed this season.


... and for his predecessor, and kind-of successor, I will always have a soft spot in my heart for Mike Riley because he took my home town Winnipeg Blue Bombers to two Grey Cup championships in his four years there, the most since Bud Grant got 4 before heading to the Minnesota Vikings in 1967. And we've had none since.