CEDAR CITY — Gary Andersen had a pretty good gig as an assistant football coach at the University of Utah.
He knew the Utes would contend for the Mountain West Conference championship this year and most likely go to a bowl game.
During his five years at Utah, Andersen was treated well by former Ute coach Ron McBride. He allowed Andersen to be involved in everything the game had to offer both on and off the field — budgets, strategy and discipline.
It appeared there was no good reason to leave.
With McBride leaving and all the uncertainties that would follow, Andersen decided it was time to go.
"Everybody has a progression that they see themselves going through. I knew I had a great opportunity to stay with Kyle (Whittingham) there and basically do what I have done in the past at Utah, but I felt it was time to have an opportunity to run my own program," he said.
He was hired as the head football coach at Southern Utah University on Dec. 9, 2002, and inherited a team that went 1-10 last year and lost 10 straight games.
"You get to the point where you say 'hey, do my ideas, are they going to work,' " he said. "So it was time to step out and see if I can get done what I think I can. I felt like I was completely prepared."
His game plan for success is simple but extremely complicated and challenging: Recruit Utah high school players, upgrade the facilities and build a tradition of winning.
Andersen said he wouldn't have taken just any job for the sake of being a head coach, but SUU was a program with unique circumstances with the upside he was looking for.
"I believe you can get it done with Utah kids," said Andersen, who graduated from Cottonwood High School in 1982. "If you don't believe that here, you don't have a chance."
That philosophy was never more evident with his first recruiting class. He and his staff landed 25 Utah high school seniors and 15 transfers, which included eight players who had played at the Division I-A level.
"We looked for immediate help, and with the young class we signed in February, we prepared ourselves for the future. We want to be good right now and we want to be good in the future," Andersen said. "The first recruiting class was better than I thought it was going to be. I didn't think we would be able to sign that many quality kids. I didn't think as many of those freshmen would come in and play and be ready to do it physically."
Getting the players to come to SUU was only half of the battle. Helping them be successful on and off the field is the other half.
"We believe as a staff that their first semester is crucial. If you can get out of the blocks and have a successful first semester, it will help you in the future," he said.
He knew his role would require more than being just a coach.
"It's important for us to be involved — to talk about home, girlfriends, problems with parents, roommates. You have kids that are on their own for the first time. That's part of our job," he said. "They have to succeed academically, socially and on the football field. Those three things will help us be where we want to be in three years."
Along with getting quality players, Andersen knew one of his major responsibilities would be to help upgrade SUU's facilities.
Renovations to the locker rooms, coaches offices and weight room were already under way, but Andersen and his staff joined in with the university to raise $75,000 to finish those projects as well as purchase new video and editing equipment and new uniforms. The T-Birds drove to road games at Reno and Cal Poly to help pay for the new purchases.
"We had to upgrade the facilities, and that was huge to put us on an even kilter with Weber State and Idaho State and NAU (Northern Arizona) to bring kids into our place and have them look at it," Andersen said.
Being successful will require more, but Andersen isn't barking about what he doesn't have. If he doesn't have it, he'll go and get it, either by his own means or with the help of the administration, which has vowed to offer more.
"Two years from now if we don't get it done it's not because we didn't have the stuff," Andersen said. "It's limited in some areas, but not crippling."
With the players and facilities now in place, Andersen and his staff are focusing on building a winning tradition. SUU was just 3-19 in the past two years. Under Andersen, the T-Birds lost two more games before beating Stephen F. Austin — a nationally ranked Div. I-AA team. In all, the T-Birds have played or will play six teams that have been ranked or are ranked in the Div. I-AA Top 25, and they are 4-6 with one game remaining at Idaho State.
"(We want) to create a tough football team that is competitive every week," he said. "That's something they've obviously struggled with for the two years prior. We've been in every game, and out kids are beginning to understand the toughness level. We're not there yet, but we're a much tougher football team than we were when we started in January."
He believes in order for his team to be considered one of the best, be ranked and make it to the playoffs for the first time in school history, the T-Birds have to beat the best.
"We've got kids that can see the future and see what playing hard gets you," he said. "They can see the elevation of the schedule this year, and it is going to remain the same."
The T-Birds have games with McNeese State, Northern Colorado, Cal Poly, Sacramento State and Idaho State, and Andersen hopes they can still schedule a Div. I-A opponent.
"I know as hard as we have had to work I want to be here to see it in three or four years and see what it can be," Andersen said. "I think this can be a special place."
E-MAIL: jhinton@desnews.com