The Wisconsin State Journal reported last night:

The University of Wisconsin is set to hire Utah State’s Gary Andersen as the Badgers’ next football coach.

A source close to the football program told the State Journal on Tuesday night it is a done deal: Andersen is UW athletic director Barry Alvarez’s choice to succeed Bret Bielema, who left to become the head coach at Arkansas.

Multiple sources earlier in the day pointed to Andersen as the leading candidate and indicated a final decision could come quickly.

This is interesting because Andersen was nowhere to be found on the list of early coaching favorites.

Perhaps he should have been on the list, though. Andersen led the Aggies to what would have been a monumental upset of Wisconsin in Madison in September had it not been for a missed 37-yard field goal that preserved UW’s 16–14 win. Then again, maybe it wouldn’t have been an upset:

Utah State, currently No. 18 in the Associated Press poll, finished the season 11-2 overall. That included a 6-0 record and first-place finish in the Western Athletic Conference. …

Andersen was named Utah State’s head coach on Dec. 4, 2008, after five seasons as the assistant head coach, defensive coordinator and defensive line coach at Utah. He helped guide the Utes to a 13-0 record in 2008, when they finished No. 2 in the Associated Press poll after beating Alabama 31-17 in the Sugar Bowl.

In his four years at Utah State, Andersen, 48, has a 26-24 overall record. He took over a program that was a combined 9-38 the previous four seasons.

He was reported to be a candidate for several coaching openings, with his name coming up at Colorado, Kentucky and California.

Truth be told, Andersen’s got an impressive résumé, with experience on both sides of the ball.

This part is interesting, and gives the lie to a comment Alvarez made about, of all things, UW’s football uniforms, when he said of coach Bret Bielema, “It’s his program”:

Andersen’s hiring is a surprise, because his name has not come up in the coaching search prior to this and his team runs a spread offense. Alvarez has made it clear he doesn’t want to convert to a spread offense.

“I don’t have any problem with our scheme,” Alvarez said recently. “I don’t perceive us as a spread them out, fast pace, no huddle, one back, five wides. I don’t see us doing that because that’s not the type of kid we can consistently recruit and we have to remember that.

“You know what the plan is. It starts with those big palookas up front.”

But Andersen came up mostly as a defensive coach — specifically, the defensive line.

He would likely have no problem changing his offensive style to suit UW, if that’s what Alvarez wanted.

Utah State ranks No. 33 nationally in scoring offense, averaging 34.9 points per game, and No. 23 in total offense, averaging 469.1 yards per game.

The Aggies have been even better on defense, ranking eighth in scoring, allowing an average of 15.4 points per game, and 15th in yards, giving up 322.1 per game.

If Andersen is the best possible candidate, why would Alvarez hamstring him by telling him what kind of offensive style Alvarez wants? Or is this speculation on the part of the State Journal? Alvarez could have hired Jacksonville Jaguars defensive coordinator Mel Tucker or Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell (both former players for Alvarez) if he wanted to be that dictatorial about football style.

Football in the West, particularly the past and present iterations of the Western Athletic Conference, is wide open, to say the least. (Except at Air Force, which runs the wishbone.) Utah ran the spread at the behest of former coach Urban Meyer, who went undefeated one season. Nontraditional offenses such as the spread (well, it used to be nontraditional) often are the choice at schools whose football fortunes have been moribund for a long time. The theory is that putting up lots of yards and points attracts fans and generates excitement in the program.

That is not the issue at Wisconsin, of course. Two reasons the 2013 Badgers may look a lot like the 2012 Badgers on offense is that (1) even without Montee Ball they have a lot of good running backs, and (2) based on this season they have exactly one receiver on the roster, Jared Abbrederis. I would like to see UW equally proficient at running or passing, which they were under former offensive coordinator Paul Chryst. (In previous ground-bound seasons, I don’t know why a defensive coordinator would not simply line up everyone between the tackles, no more than five yards behind the line of scrimmage, and dare UW to throw.) Interestingly, Utah State this season was ranked exactly the same nationally in rushing offense and passing offense — 37th — and they were 26th in offensive yardage and 36th in scoring offense.

Anyway, as I argued here before, you do not want a coach whose success is predicated on a scheme. Don Mor(t)on claimed the veer would lead to victory, and it did — to be precise, six victories in three seasons. Alvarez wasn’t a system coach — he wasn’t known for a defensive system such as, to use NFL example, Buddy Ryan’s 46 Defense or the various Cover-2 disciples, such as Chicago’s Lovie Smith. Systems eventually get figured out, wherever they’re played.

If the reports are correct, take a look at Andersen’s assistant coaches. Many of them may well be coming to Wisconsin. (Except Mike Sanford, named head coach at Indiana State.)