The official introduction of Gary Andersen as Wisconsin’s new football coach apparently was delayed by the snowpocalypse.

Assuming the Mayans weren’t right, let’s share some opinions about Andersen, the first UW coach with no previous UW ties (other than almost beating the Badgers in Madison this season) since Notre Dame defensive coordinator Barry Alvarez (who once played Wisconsin as a Nebraska linebacker) replaced Don Mor(t)on as the Badgers’ coach.

First, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Jeff Potrykus:

When Bret Bielema took over as Wisconsin’s head coach in 2006, he inherited a veteran-laden team coming off a 10-victory season in 2005 under Barry Alvarez.

Bielema’s record in his first season: 12-1, with the lone loss at Michigan.

When Utah State’s Gary Andersen officially takes over, he will inherit a veteran-laden team that could make a run at another league title in 2013. Under Bielema, who left for Arkansas after the Big Ten Conference title game, the Badgers qualified for a third consecutive appearance in the Rose Bowl.

UW could lose as few as six starters after the Rose Bowl, including tailback Montee Ball and left tackle Rick Wagner, linebacker Mike Taylor and three starters in the secondary.

But how will the 48-year-old Andersen, who is set to be introduced as UW’s head coach Friday, fare on the field and the recruiting trail beyond 2013?

“Wisconsin . . . doesn’t have a history of recruiting Utah or junior-college guys,” Big Ten Network analyst Tom Dienhart said Wednesday, “which made up a great majority of the Aggies’ roster under Andersen.

“But I can counter with recruiting is recruiting. Recruiting is about developing relationships.”

Those who have watched Andersen and his staff battle for recruits note that after he took over the Utah State program, he gradually became able to beat state rivals Utah and Brigham Young for players.

That is a significant development because for years Utah State was a distant third in the state in terms of resources and perception.grams – Ohio State, Alabama, USC – that select and then there are the rest that have to recruit.

“And not just recruit, but they have to project the talent. He did so at Utah State.”

The Wisconsin State Journal’s Tom Mulhern points out something mentioned here in passing Wednesday:

One of the intriguing aspects of new University of Wisconsin football coach Gary Andersen’s background is his close relationship with Ohio State coach Urban Meyer. …

Andersen was the defensive line coach at Utah under Meyer in 2004 when the Utes went 12-0 and earned their first BCS bowl victory, topping Pittsburgh in the Fiesta Bowl. …

Andersen’s background as a defensive coach and his keen knowledge of Meyer’s offense must have appealed to UW athletic coach Barry Alvarez during the coaching search.

The State Journal’s Tom Oates adds:

Andersen didn’t match all of the criteria used by UW athletic director Barry Alvarez during his search, but that doesn’t mean Alvarez failed.

Just the opposite, in fact. Although he comes from an alternate football universe, Andersen appears to fit many of the requirements Alvarez was looking for in a coach and his track record suggests he has the personality and adaptability to alleviate any concerns about the rest.

Based on the criteria he outlined two weeks ago and the things he looked for when he hired Bret Bielema seven years ago, Alvarez’s ideal candidate was this: A college head coach with a defensive orientation who understands the culture at UW and in the Big Ten. A coach who will maintain the status quo schematically and is an energetic recruiter who can bring in good kids and maintain a high-quality program.

On many levels, Andersen fits that description.

He is a proven success as a head coach, using his ability to recruit, relate to and develop players to author one of the nation’s more remarkable turnarounds at Utah State. The Aggies were 9-38 in the four years before he arrived and are 26-24 in the four years since, including an 11-2 record this year and a No. 18 national ranking.

His teams are known for being tough-minded and physical, a style that fits the Big Ten. UW fans found that out when Utah State threw a huge scare into the Badgers before dropping a 16-14 decision at Camp Randall Stadium in September.

And he has a long association with top-notch defenses. He was a key defensive assistant on Utah’s undefeated teams in 2004 and 2008, and his defenses at Utah State have improved dramatically every year he’s been there. This year, the Aggies rank 15th in the nation in total yards. …

Alvarez is adamant about maintaining UW’s power running game, as he should be. The Badgers’ one natural recruiting advantage is their ability to find huge linemen to run behind. To employ an offense that uses smaller, faster linemen would negate that advantage and could lead to disastrous results (See: Morton, Don).

Former offensive coordinator Paul Chryst had great success by layering an NFL-style passing attack over UW’s traditional running game. Can Andersen find a way to keep some of his spread concepts and yet utilize UW’s behemoths in a power running game?

His defensive track record suggests he’s a coach who is willing to adjust his schemes. Andersen coached a 4-3 defense at Utah and, until this season, at Utah State. He switched to a 3-4 this year because that’s what his talent dictated.

The good news is Utah State featured balance between running and passing. That meant Alvarez didn’t have to sell Andersen on the value of running the ball, only how best to do it given UW’s talent pool.

The Journal Sentinel’s Dave Heller interviewed three Utah State beat writers — Wade Denniston of the Logan (Utah) Herald Journal, Kevin Graham of KFAN in Salt Lake City, and Tim Olsen of the Cache Valley (Utah) Daily:

Q. How would you describe him as a coach?

Denniston: Energetic, passionate, dedicated. He’s definitely a players’ coach and the Badgers should love him. He’ll do things the right way and his teams will be tough-minded and physical. Coach A will definitely put an exciting product on the field. … Gary is a great guy. He was easy to work with. Wisconsin is getting a winner and it’ll be fun to see him and Urban Meyer battle it out now.

Graham: Everything you want in a head coach – attention to detail, motivator, disciplinarian yet players respect and love playing for him. He’s direct and honest.  What you see is what you get.

Olsen: Coach Andersen is a very passionate and fiery coach. You can just see the glint in his eye, and when he sets a goal you believe he and his team can reach it. When he first arrived at Utah State, he said the Aggies would be competitive with the top in-state schools (Utah and BYU) and the top teams in the WAC (Boise State at the time). USU has not only competed with Utah and BYU during Andersen’s tenure, but has defeated each school. The Aggies also won the WAC title this season with a 6-0 conference record – USU’s first outright conference title since 1936. …

Q. What do you remember about Andersen’s reaction to playing at Wisconsin? …

Denniston: … After the game: “We played at a high level. That defense for Wisconsin wasn’t good, but a great defense. They are very well coached. They play football the right way. I was even more impressed after watching the tape twice yesterday. The kids reacted to the road very well. They handled the situation well. We came up a play short at the end. There’s no way, shape or form one play wins or loses a game like that. If the kick goes in, yeah it’s a game-winning kick, but it didn’t win the game alone. I feel the same way about it not going in. There are a lot of young men that you look at who could have made a game-winning play. That’s my big thing is to tell the team to do your job and worry about yourself.”

Graham: Outside of the disappointment of barely losing that game he was very impressed with the atmosphere there. I know he was frustrated with the fan support at Utah State. Despite producing a winner they barely got 17,000 fans to attend the games.

Olsen: One of Andersen’s favorite phrases (other than saying a player is tremendously tremendous) is to say “that is big time Division I football.” That’s exactly how he described the atmosphere at Wisconsin – big time Division I football. It’s no secret that Camp Randall is known as one of the best home venues for college football in the country. Following the game, Andersen said it lived up to its billing.

Q. Utah State ran a spread, which won’t fly at Wisconsin. I know Andersen is more defensive-minded, but what are his theories on offense?

Denniston: He loves having a dual-threat quarterback, which is all he’s had at USU. While the Aggies are a spread offense, they are pretty balanced. They like to take shots down the field with their speedy receivers, then grind it out on teams, as well.

Graham: He implemented the spread based on the personnel he felt he could recruit at Utah State giving the program the best opportunity to be successful. He has a sharp football mind and will adapt to an offense that will best fit his players at Wisconsin.

Olsen: Andersen is a defensive minded guy, but offensively he will try and match the strengths of his players or team. In 2011, Utah State had a loaded backfield. The Aggies had two running backs in Robert Turbin (Seattle Seahawks) and Michael Smith (Tampa Bay Buccaneers) who were drafted into the NFL. This year’s starter, Kerwynn Williams was also in the mix. That team finished the season at the No. 6 team in the country rushing the football with nearly 283 yards per game on the ground. He will be able to similarly match his offense to his players at Wisconsin.

Q. What kind of defense does Andersen run? Aggressive? Blitz a lot? Press corners?

Graham: Andersen prefers an aggressive style of defense. He wants corners with speed and the ability to play man press coverage. He likes to confuse offenses with a variety of looks and pressure packages.

Olsen: Andersen loves an aggressive style defense where he can blitz a lot and leave his corners out on an island to cover. The Aggies had a game earlier this season where they recorded a school-record 13 sacks against San Jose State. Another great example of Andersen’s defensive style is Utah’s win over Alabama in the Sugar Bowl a few years back. He likes to use speed and different formations to attack and confuse opposing offenses.

All interesting observations. The points about defense might be worth more attention than what’s been noted about offense. Obviously Wisconsin has emphasized defense under Alvarez and Bielema, but I wouldn’t call the Badger defense especially aggressive. Particularly in Alvarez’s early years, it would have been better described as bend-but-don’t-break — don’t let the offense get behind you, give up yards, but don’t give up points or big plays. They were more aggressive when they had high-quality defensive backs, such as Troy Vincent, Jamar Fletcher and Scott Starks, but for the most part UW played a 4–3 with not much blitzing. And obviously it worked.

As for the spread, the State Journal’s Jim Polzin reports:

The lifeblood of UW’s successful program under Alvarez and Bielema, who left for Arkansas earlier this month, has been mammoth offensive linemen — many of them state products — opening holes for a series of talented running backs.

But some think a form of the spread offense could be successful at UW if that’s the direction Andersen chooses to go.

“The big road graders are still athletes,” longtime Mequon Homestead coach Dave Keel said. “You think of the best UW linemen, they pull. A good college lineman is a good college lineman, regardless of the offense.

“The challenging part of the spread is the four wideouts or five guys who can run like the wind and a quarterback who can also run. … It’ll be a challenge to get that right quarterback in there. And if you decide to run your quarterback, you better have two or maybe even three. If he chooses to stay with the spread, he’s going to have to adjust his recruiting just a tad, but not with the linemen.”

How do you know Keel is right? By looking at how many UW offensive linemen are, or were, NFL offensive linemen. Mark Tauscher played for run-oriented Badger teams and pass-oriented Packer teams, and did just fine.