It's bad for the players and the fans, but Gary Anderson has been offered the job at Wisconsin for quite a bit more than he was earning at Utah State. This is too bad, but college football is a business and Utah State can't compete with a BCS school that can more than double his salary.
Anderson has built a program in Logan, and he would need to be replaced by someone who can keep the momentum going. Therefore, his replacement should be someone nearby. In fact, someone both LDS and polynesian may do the trick. Perhaps, and this is just my musing, Utah's Kilani Sitake or Navy's Ken Nuimatalolo or BYU's Steve Kafusi.
USU's turn around was powered by good recruiting. It was as much niche recruiting as Bronco Mendenhall has done at BYU. USU won't immediately go back to where they were, but if they get the right coach, they could still be good next season.
What should concern people is the disparity between the haves like Wisconsin and the have-nots like Utah State. One of the reasons why the smaller colleges can't catch up on the field is because they can't keep up on the sideline. Someone even hints that they are building a good program at the smaller colleges, they are snatched up by bigger ones.
The same thing happens in business. If you build a successful small business, either your CEO gets a better job or your company gets purchased by a bigger competitor...or your employees move to companies that can pay them higher salaries.
There will never be another LaVell Edwards or Jim Sweeny. LaVell would have gone to a big program after the 1974 Fiesta Bowl Season. Jim Sweeny would have never even landed in Fresno. Utah State will have to build their program on the shoulders of successive coaches, not just one. Here's to their hope for success.
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