Gary Andersen back for a second stint at Utah State

Utah State’s replacement for Matt Wells is the man who preceded him.

Gary Andersen, who coached the Aggies from 2009-12, is back as the team’s head coach. He will take over for Wells, who left for Texas Tech, at the school that gave him his first head-coaching job.

Andersen served as Utah’s defensive coordinator before Utah State hired him after the 2008 season. Andersen took the team from four wins in 2009 and 2010 to seven wins in 2011 and 11 wins in 2012 before taking over for Bret Bielema at Wisconsin.

Andersen was at Wisconsin for two seasons and went a combined 19-7. But he left the Big Ten school following the 2014 season and went to Oregon State. He did not have the same success with the Beavers. Andersen’s teams went 2-10 and 4-8 and he “mutually” parted ways with the school in 2017 after Oregon State started the season 1-5.

Texts from Andersen to an Oregon reporter showed Andersen was not a fan of the assistant coaches he had on staff. Because he “mutually” parted ways with Oregon State, Andersen was not owed any of the $12 million that was remaining on his contract.

Andersen’s overall record as a head coach is 52-54 in just less than 10 seasons. Utah State went 10-2 in 2018 and will play North Texas in the New Mexico Bowl.

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Nick Bromberg is a writer for Yahoo Sports.

Follow @NickBromberg on Twitter

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