Gary Andersen and His Beaver Family

To build a football program you need talent. Nothing shocking in that statement, but for some schools not named USC or Alabama it is a bit more complicated. The more remote the school or the more a team doesn’t win the tougher the job is to recruit to that school. With this being said, it is amazing to see what Gary Andersen is doing up at Oregon State.

Let’s face facts about Corvallis. It’s small town USA. You're 90 minutes from Portland, two hours from the coast, and a couple hours from the mountains. For many recruits to the campus it can be a bit of culture shock. There are not a ton of things to do in the city of Corvallis. The options are not as great for players coming from bigger cities.

However, sometimes that is what players are looking for. Something different, something slower paced, and most importantly, a place where the player can step in and contribute right away.

The Oregon State football program can certainly give players the opportunity to step in and make an immediate contribution.

With the latest recruit being four star wide receiver, Jamire Calvin, you have to start paying attention to what head coach Gary Andersen and his staff are selling to get kids like Calvin and Isaiah Hodgins, who is another four star receiver to come to Corvallis.

One of the things that you hear from current Oregon State players and the current recruits say is that Gary Andersen sold them on the family atmosphere that he has created for the Beavers.

“I chose Oregon State because of the family atmosphere and the comfort level I had there. I felt like I could help change their program.” Isaiah Hodgins said after making his commitment official.

The junior college recruits even talk about the family feeling around the football program.

“From speaking with players and people around the program he’s a genuine guy who truly cares about his players.” Said Jake Luton, a junior college quarterback, who has signed with the Beavers.

The other aspect that I believe is playing into some of these recruits mind is that there will be a good chance for them to play pretty quickly. When former head coach, Mike Riley, left for Nebraska, he left the cupboards extremely bare. The talent level was almost non-existent.

Head coach Gary Andersen knew what he was walking into when he arrived in Corvallis and even talked about how tough of a rebuild this would be at Oregon State.

Other coaches are taking notice of the rebuild going on in Corvallis.

Arizona head coach, Rich Rodriguez, has compared the Oregon State rebuild to what Colorado has done.

“They’ve clearly gotten better. They’ve got some skill guys. They believe in what they are doing.” Rich Rodriguez stated during the past season.

To anybody that pays attention to what is going on at Oregon State the momentum they have going into the 2017 is immense. The big Civil War victory for the Beavers has been a key ingredient in getting some of these bigger starred recruits. Many of the recruits that the Beavers were targeting were in attendance for the Civil War Game and after seeing the atmosphere in the stadium and with the team committed on the spot to Oregon State.

Oregon State isn’t going to any College Football Playoff anytime soon, but they are making strides that are tangible to see for everybody that is a fan of the Beavers. The next step in the process is to become bowl eligible. The fans are not expecting the Rose Bowl next season, however, they would be thrilled to be in a New Year’s Six Bowl game in a few years.

Gary Andersen is building something at Oregon State. He’s done it with other programs and it’s something he is good at. The players see it, the incoming recruits see it, the administration sees it, and the fans see it. What Coach Andersen wants is the rest of the country to see it.