Gary Andersen is entering his sixth season as Utah State’s head coach as he initially led the program for four years from 2009-12 and returned for his second stint prior to the 2019 campaign as he was hired on Dec. 9, 2018. Andersen is the first of 27 coaches in USU history to serve as head coach multiple times.
In all, Andersen is beginning his 11th season as a Division I head coach and has 31 years of coaching experience. He has been involved in 13 bowl games, including four New Year’s Day bowls. As a head coach, he led Utah State to the 2012 Western Athletic Conference Championship and Wisconsin to the 2014 Big Ten Conference West Division title, and has coached 17 NFL Draft picks, including seven at USU.
During his career, Andersen was a finalist for the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award at Utah State in 2012, along with being named the WAC Coach of the Year that same season, and a semifinalist for the Maxwell Coach of the Year Award (2013) and George Munger Coach of the Year Award (2013, 2014) as the head coach at Wisconsin. He was also a finalist for the Frank Broyles Award at Utah in 2008, which is given to the top assistant in college football.
Academically, three of Andersen’s teams have finished in the top-10 nationally in Academic Progress Rate, in addition to 186 academic all-conference honorees.
During his five-year tenure with the Aggies, Andersen has posted a 33-30 overall record, including a 22-15 league mark, and the school’s first back-to-back winning seasons (7-6 in 2011 and 11-2 in 2012) since 1979-80. He was also the first head coach since Phil Krueger (1973-75) to notch an overall winning record. In all, his 33 wins are the fifth-most in school history, while his 52.4 winning percentage ranks as the eighth-best.
In 2019, Andersen led Utah State to a 6-2 Mountain West record, finishing third in the Mountain Division. USU also played in its 14th bowl game in school history, including its third under Andersen, which is the second-most under any head coach in Aggie history.
During the 2019 campaign, Andersen coached 10 Aggies to all-Mountain West honors, including placekicker Dominik Eberle, who was named a Pro Football Focus Honorable Mention All-American. Furthermore, quarterback Jordan Love became just the fifth player in school history selected in the first round of the NFL Draft as he was the 26th overall pick by the Green Bay Packers. Additionally, four more Aggies signed NFL free agent contracts in Eberle (Las Vegas Raiders), defensive end Tipa Galeai (Green Bay Pakcers), wide receiver Siaosi Mariner (Las Vegas Raiders) and tight end Caleb Repp (Atlanta Falcons).
Utah State also set two school records during the 2019 season as it completed 315 passes and attempted 504. Furthermore, USU had the second-most passing yards (3,628) and the third-most made field goals (21) in a single-season in school history in 2019.
When initially hired by Utah State on Dec. 4, 2008, Andersen inherited a football program that had suffered through 11 straight losing seasons and only had two winning campaigns in 28 years, while playing in just four bowl games.
In just his third year at Utah State, Andersen’s 2011 club became the first Aggie team to win seven games since 1993 and the first USU team to play in a bowl game in 14 years. The following season, Andersen led USU to its best season ever with a school-record 11 wins, going undefeated in the WAC and capturing its first outright league title since 1936. USU also won just its second-ever bowl game that season with a 41-15 victory against Toledo in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl. USU finished the 2012 campaign with an 11-2 record and was one of just two teams in school history at the time, along with the 1961 club, to finish the season nationally ranked as it was 16th in the final Associated Press poll, 17th in the final Coaches poll and 23rd in the final BCS standings.
During his first stint as Utah State’s head coach, Andersen built an Aggie football program that set numerous school records, including wins (11), points scored (454), total offense (6,108 yards) and yards per game (469.8) in 2012, and touchdowns (60), rushing yards (3,675) and rushing touchdowns (37) in 2011. The 282.7 rushing yards per game in 2011 ranked sixth in the nation that year and are the second-most in school history. Furthermore, the 34.9 points per game scored in 2012 were the second-most in school history at the time, while that team’s defense allowed just 322.1 yards and 15.4 points per game, its fewest at USU since the 1960s. Furthermore, those 15.4 points allowed per game in 2012 ranked seventh nationally.
During his final two seasons at Utah State, Andersen led the Aggies to an 18-8 record, including an 11-2 conference mark.
As Utah State’s head coach from 2009-12, Andersen coached six Aggies who went on to earn All-American honors (Will Davis, Kerwynn Williams, Tyler Larsen, Nevin Lawson, Zach Vigil and Kyler Fackrell) and 10 Aggies who played in the NFL, including current Seattle Seahawks linebacker Bobby Wagner, who was selected in the second round of the 2012 NFL Draft. Furthermore, Andersen coached 27 players that earned various all-conference honors, including running back Robert Turbin, who was named the WAC’s Offensive Player of the Year in 2011 and has spent the past eight seasons in the NFL.
Andersen came back to Utah State after spending the 2018 season as the associate head coach and defensive line coach at the University of Utah, where the Utes posted a 9-4 record and advanced to the Pac-12 Championship game after winning the Pac-12 South. At Utah, Andersen helped coach 10 defensive starters to all-conference honors, including all three of his starters on the defensive line.
In all, Andersen spent 12 years on staff at Utah during three different stints, including helping the Utes to undefeated seasons in 2004 and 2008 as they played in the Fiesta Bowl and Sugar Bowl, respectively. During his time at Utah, Andersen coached two All-Americans, two conference defensive Most Valuable Players, 22 first-team all-conference honorees and 16 NFL draft picks.
Following his first four years as Utah State’s head coach, Andersen spent two seasons as the head coach at Wisconsin (2013-14) and three years as the head coach at Oregon State (2015-17). At Wisconsin, he led the Badgers to a 19-7 record, a Big Ten divisional championship in 2014 and appearances in the Capital One Bowl and Outback Bowl.
During his two years at Wisconsin, Andersen coached five All-Americans and had seven players selected in the NFL Draft. In 2013, Chris Borland was named a first-team All-American, and the Big Ten Conference Linebacker and Defensive Player of the Year. In 2014, Andersen coached Melvin Gordon, the nation’s leading rusher and scorer in 2014, to the Big Ten Conference Offensive Player of the Year Award and a runner-up finish for the Heisman Trophy.
At Oregon State, Andersen had three players drafted into the NFL in Isaac Seumalo, Sean Harlow and Treston Decoud, and coached two Freshman All-Americans in Xavier Crawford and Gus Lavaka, and 12 all-league players.
Andersen’s coaching career began in 1988 as the assistant head coach and offensive coordinator at Southeastern Louisiana, where he coached for one season before going to Ricks College from 1989-92 as the offensive line coach. His other coaching stints include Idaho State (1992-94, defensive line), Park City HS (1994-95, head coach) and Northern Arizona (1995-96, assistant head coach/defensive line/special teams). Andersen also spent the 2003 season as the head coach at Southern Utah.
A 1986 graduate of Utah, Andersen earned his bachelor’s degree in political science. He played center for Utah from 1985-86 after garnering first-team juco All-America honors in 1984 at Ricks College.
Andersen is married to the former Stacey Lambert, and they have three children: Keegan (Jen), and twins Chasen (Marquelle) and Hagen (Kaitlin), one grandson (Raylen), and one granddaughter (Baylor).
Gary Andersen File
Coaching History:
2019 – Utah State – Head Coach/DT
2018 – Utah – Associate Head Coach/DL
2015-17 – Oregon State – Head Coach
2013-14 – Wisconsin – Head Coach
2009-12 – Utah State – Head Coach
2005-08 – Utah – Asst. HC/Def. Coordinator/DL
2004 – Utah – Defensive Line
2003 – Southern Utah – Head Coach
2002 – Utah – Asst. HC/ST Coordinator/DL
2001 – Utah – Assistant Head Coach/DT
1997-00 – Utah – Defensive Tackles
1995-96 – Northern Arizona – Asst. HC/DL/ST
1994 – Park City (Utah) HS – Head Coach
1992-93 – Idaho State – Defensive Line
1989-91 – Ricks College – Offensive Line
1988 – Southeastern Louisiana – Asst. HC/OC
Bowl Games (13):
Wisconsin (2) – 2014 Outback; 2013 Capital One
Utah State (3) – 2019 Frisco; 2012 & 2011 Famous Idaho Potato
Utah (8) – 2018 Holiday; 2008 Sugar; 2007 Poinsettia; 2006 Armed Forces; 2005 Emerald; 2004 Fiesta; 2001 & 1999 Las Vegas
Conference/Division Championships (2):
Wisconsin (1) – Big Ten West, 2014.
Utah State (1) – WAC, 2012
Coach of the Year Honors:
Wisconsin – Maxwell Coach of the Year Semifinalist, 2013; George Munger Coach of the Year Semifinalist, 2013, 2014.
Utah State – WAC Coach of the Year, 2012; Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Finalist, 2012.
Utah – Frank Broyles Assistant Coach of the Year Finalist, 2008.
Playing Experience:
1985-86 – Utah – Offensive Center
1983-84 – Ricks College – Offensive Center
Education:
1986 – Utah – Political Science (B.S.)
Family:
Wife, Stacey; Sons, Keegan (Jen), Chasen (Marquelle), Hagen (Kaitlin); Grandchildren, Raylen, Baylor