CFB coaching carousel

You're also hearing plenty of talk about how Andersen was frustrated that he couldn't get kids into school - and this isn't just Internet rumors; Alvarez was quoted discussing it and referring to a specific kid they didn't get in. I don't know if they raised standards and he faces obstacles Alvarez and Bielema didn't face, or kids have simply gotten dumber, but their level of success the past 20 years seems to indicate that this wasn't really a problem before now. And while Wisconsin is a decent school as big land-grant universities go, we're not exactly talking Harvard here, so I have a hard time buying this angle.

 

I'm guessing he heard a few things from Alvarez after that 59-0 loss in the Big Ten (14) title game and probably thought, "I don't need this shit."

 

You might be underselling it...Wisconsin is definitely regarded as one of the top 15 or so public universities nationwide.

 

I think he would have taken it two years ago. Right now, if I'm the Niners he's the first or second name on my list.

 

I don't think Bevell was very highly-regarded until he got to Minnesota. He did good things there and has been great in Seattle. I was a little surprised he didn't get a HC job last year, but those Super Bowl runs can make it a little tough on some assistants.

 

Bill Snyder is worshipped even stronger in Kansas and hasn't played for a national title. 1998 against aTm.... that close to playing for one.

On Wisconsin and the academics...

In part because of the sports success of the 1990's and Madison being labeled a cool town, applications for Wisconsin rose sharply that decade and continued through 2000. The result was that the university became MUCH harder to get into. (25 years ago, I did get into Wisconsin and Northwestern -- I doubt I could get into either today. In fact, I know I couldn't get into Wisconsin as it's on a Texas, Virginia, non-academic fraud North Carolina level for public university admittance -- it isn't Cal or Michigan but it also isn't Kansas.)

Stories have trickled out in the last 10 years about suburban Milwaukee kids with 3.9 GPAs and all the right extracurriculars getting rejected or on the "wait-list" at Wisconsin. So they do two years at UW-Oshkosh or UW-Whitewater and then try and transfer in. Where this becomes a problem is when they have parents who went to Madison (on their 3.1 GPAs in 1978) and are stumped as to why little Caleb didn't get in with his excellent grades.

With this climate, it does rub people the wrong way in the state if the football program has absolute idiots in the starting lineup when NHS-level Wisconsin kids can't even gain admittance to the state's flagship university.

**I will note that I covered K-State during Snyder's first run and his teams may have featured some of the dumbest student-athletes I've ever encountered.

Does this play into Andersen's decision to bolt for Oregon State? I don't know. He could probably land more JuCo players who are on the margin, academically.

Wisconsin is one of those schools trying to have it both ways in football. They want the 82,000 people at Camp Randall yet they also want to maintain some level of academic baselines. It's a good HC job but one with a ceiling and, yes, King Barry over your shoulder. A corpse should win 8 games and 10 would be on the high end -- maybe you beat Ohio State once every 6 years.

There is a ceiling but it comes with expectations. That can be a hard sell for some coaches on the rise.

The only disappointment... is that Wisconsin had Russell Wilson for one year and didn't get to a title game because of poor clock/time-out management in their regular season losses. Wisconsin will, likely, never had a QB of his caliber again as they gut out Big Ten West victories with pocket QBs who aren't terribly accurate.

 

It is certainly harder for nonathletes to get into a lot of state schools nowadays - Minnesota is the same way - but unless there was a recent change in how they handle things for athletes at UW (perhaps they got scared by the North Carolina stuff), it just seems odd that now it's a problem when it certainly didn't seem to hamper Alvarez and Bielema.

 

Snyder and Beamer were the two I thought of who haven't won titles. Obviously, Beamer played for one.

I think the notion that you can't contend for a national title at Wisconsin is false. Under the old BCS rules, it probably was accurate, but now that you just have to finish in the top four, I think that's changed a bit. There have been years where Wisconsin has been in the top 4 going into bowls, although I'm guessing it hasn't been more than a couple times.

K-State is probably pretty close to the extreme as a major program who can get just about any kid in. Iowa State may be almost as bad. There are a lot of schools that lose out on kids all the time becase the school doesn't have PE as a major and Juco credits won't transfer.

 

I don't know that they "hampered" Andersen either. Wisconsin did play for the Big Ten title and is going to a second-tier bowl. That's certainly not a bad season.

It might have just pissed him off.

 

Yeah, there was a 4* DE out of a Madison suburb who wanted to come to WI, but couldn't get in academically and that went to Michigan State as a result.

 

Back in the day, Michael Bishop couldn't pass an exam he needed to graduate from his JUCO in Texas and be eligible, so K-State somehow arranged to have all his credits transferred to Cloud County Community College in Kansas, where he was awarded the Associates Degree he needed.

 

I don't know it exactly but everything I've heard indicates these aren't new requirements or changed requirements.