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OGDEN — Longtime college football coach Gary Andersen has been added as a volunteer staff member with the Wildcats football program, according to the program's athletic department.
Andersen will serve as a volunteer advisor where he'll assist the defensive coaching staff in practice and attend each game in the press box.
"Gary is one of the best coaches in the country and we are lucky to have him with us," Weber State head coach Jay Hill said in a statement. "His experience and expertise in helping to train and prepare our coaching staff will really help us get better."
The former Utah State coach joins Weber State after more than 30 years of coaching at the collegiate level, which includes serving as an assistant coach on multiple occasions with programs such as Ricks College (1989-91), Idaho State (1992-93), Northern Arizona (1995-96) and the University of Utah (2001-02, 2004-08, 2018).
Andersen also served as a head coach for Southern Utah (2003), Utah State (2009-12, 2019-20), Wisconsin (2013-14) and Oregon State (2015-17).
While his stints with Wisconsin and Oregon State were short lived, Andersen found great success at Utah State where he coached for a total of six seasons. After going 4-8 in his first campaign, Andersen finally put together a winning record (7-6) in 2011. He followed that up with an impressive 11-2 season the following year, which included a perfect 6-0 conference record, a 17-16 victory in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl and final Associated Press ranking of No. 16.
Andersen returned to the program in 2019 as its head coach after his time at Wisconsin and Oregon State. But after a 7-6 season his first year back, Andersen's team went 0-3 the following year and the school parted ways with him midway through the 2020 season.
Andersen joins the program just one week before Weber State begins its fall season. The Wildcats travel to Rice-Eccles Stadium to face the University of Utah on Sept. 2 at 5:30 p.m. MT.
