How do Smith’s first two years compare with previous Beaver head coaches?

Note to readers: Jim Wilson is back as an occasional guest columnist on my website. The Oregon State broadcasters’ second offering is a look back at past Beaver coaches and what year three could look like in the Jonathan Smith era.

Heading into Jonathan Smith’s third season, there is reason for genuine optimism as the Oregon State football team leapfrogged from a rough 2-10 initial campaign to a 5-7 team literally one play away from earning a bowl berth in year two.

And with that comes expectations of a break-even or winning season in year three.

Those expectations bring to mind some of the past coaching regimes and where they were heading into year three. The last five Oregon State football coaches were Gary Andersen, Mike Riley II, Dennis Erickson, Mike Riley I and Jerry Pettibone.

That group of coaches includes the Beavers all-time winningest coach in Mike Riley with 93 wins as the Beaver’s boss. Also included is College Football Hall of Fame coach Dennis Erickson - whose storied career includes two national championships and stints as the Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers Head Coach.

The list also includes Gary Andersen, whose 2½ year tenure ended abruptly when he pulled up stakes six games into his third season. And lastly, dating back to 1991 was Jerry Pettibone, who only won six Pac-10 games in six seasons, his best win coming in his first season against Oregon. Among the group, only Pettibone didn’t show significant progess after year two.

Obviously, the best direct comparisons to Jonathan Smith are with Gary Andersen, Mike Riley I and Jerry Pettibone as they all inherited losing teams in need of an overhaul. Dennis Erickson took over Mike Riley’s 5-6 team that was clearly on the rise and Riley then came back to inherit Erickson’s bowl teams.

Below is a snapshot view of those last five Beaver football coaches and their first three seasons at the helm.

Largely, expectations heading into year three have not been realized on the field. Gary Andersen entered year thee with high expectations and fizzled. Both Mike Riley II and Dennis Erickson dipped to 5-6 in year three. The only coach to improve from year two to year three was Jerry Pettibone (Mike Riley I did not coach his team in year three).

The best comparison to Jonathan Smith’s situation are with Gary Andersen, Mike Riley I and Jerry Pettibone. Following is a deeper dive into their first three years.

Gary Andersen (2015-17)

Gary Andersen took over for Mike Riley in 2015 after Riley bolted to Nebraska in a move that caught almost everybody in Beaver Nation by surprise. The subsequent coaching search turned up another surprise as the Beavers appeared to have made a home run hire by stealing Andersen away from Wisconsin, where he had compiled a 19-7 (13-3 Big Ten) overall record in two seasons.

Andersen’s first year included most of the usual grumblings about needing to get bigger and stronger and needing to change the culture. Specifically, Andersen groused about the ‘country club’ atmosphere that had set in under predecessor Mike Riley.

On the field, Andersen’s Beavers finished with a 2-10 record that included non-conference wins over Weber State and San Jose State. Of the losses, the Beavers were blown out in eight of their 10 setbacks but did play Colorado tough at home (17-13 loss) and were respectable in a 52-42 shootout in the season finale against the rival Ducks.

The interesting aspect to the season was Andersen’s choice at quarterback. True freshman speedster Seth Collins stepped to the front of the line and started the first five games before being replaced by redshirt freshman Nick Mitchell. Ultimately, Mitchell went down with a leg injury and veteran Marcus McMaryion was forced into his only start of the season in the aforementioned loss to Oregon.

In year two, the Beavers found their ‘big boy pants’ and showed improvement across the board. They ultimately finished the season at 4-8, but three of those wins came in Pac-12 play plus a gimme over Idaho State. Transfer Darrel Garretson started the season at quarterback and made it through the first two games before being replaced in game three by…..Conor Blount. With Marcus McMaryion ready to go - Andersen opted to insert true freshman walk-on Conor Blount. That was the first head-scratcher for Beaver fans as McMaryion had looked good in his start against Oregon the previous season.

Garretson and Blount traded quarterback time for the next three games before both being hurt, leaving McMaryion as the only quarterback standing. McMaryion started the last six games of the season and finished with decisive wins over Arizona and Oregon.

That led to high expectations heading into year three.

Unfortunately, Andersen refused to consider McMaryion for the quarterback position. Despite a critical opening day game at Colorado State, Coach Andersen named transfer Jake Luton as his starting quarterback in just the third day of fall camp. That decision would ultimately unravel Andersen’s tenure as the Beaver coach.

Soon thereafter McMaryion transferred to Fresno State where he went on to become a national success story. He left behind a divided locker room; there were complaints swirling about the different treatment for players recruited by Andersen and those not recruited by Andersen and the most obvious example was McMaryion.

In the season opener, the Beavers played Colorado State tough in the first half before collapsing in the second half in a 58-27 loss. Game two was supposed to be a get-well game against Portland State and turned out to be anything but as the Vikings pushed the Beavers all over the field. Oregon State rallied late to win 35-32, but Beaver Nation was clearly alarmed.

The following week the Beavers hosted Minnesota and PJ Fleck and for the second time in three weeks the Beavers collapsed in the second half and got blown out by a 48-14 tally. That was followed by blowout losses to Washington State, Washington and USC.

At that point, the locker room was clearly divided and the coaching staff was showing signs of internal rifts and ultimately Andersen pulled the plug on himself.

The Beavers named Corey Hall as the interim coach and would not win again that season.

Gary Andersen finished his 2½ year Beaver career with a 7-23 record.

Mike Riley I (1997-99)

Mike Riley’s first Head Coaching stint at Oregon State began in 1997 when he was offered $185,000 per season to replace Jerry Pettibone.

Riley, a native son of Corvallis, was the perfect choice as his coaching experience and pedigree was solid. At 44-years old, Riley brought 22 years of coaching experience that included six years as a Head Coach. It also included a National Championship at Linfield (as Defensive Coordinator; six years 52-7-1 record), a Grey Cup title as an assistant with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League and two more Grey Cups as the Head Coach of the Bombers.

Riley’s last stop before Corvallis was at USC as John Robinson’s Offensive Coordinator.

And Riley would need to rely on every ounce of his coaching acumen as this was a huge resurrection project. While it is true that Jerry Pettibone ran the triple-option attack and Riley preferred the pro-style offense - all that did was add a degree of difficulty to an already overwhelming project. The real problem was that Pettibone’s teams weren’t very good. He finished his six-year run at the Beaver boss with a 13-51-1 overall record which included only six Pac-10 wins.

Riley’s Beavers finished year one 3-8 with non-conference wins over North Texas, San Jose State and Utah State. Though the Beavers went winless (0-8) in Pac-10 Conference play - they were competitive in early Pac-10 losses to ranked opponents.

Beaver quarterback Tim Alexander was a left-over from Pettibone’s option attack and had thrown for a mere 328 yards the prior season. Under Riley, Alexander led the team in rushing, but threw for 1,745 yards as the Beavers transitioned into a pro-style attack.

In year two, Riley’s Beavers surprised everybody with a 5-6 record - the best Oregon State football record in 27 years. Oregon State opened the season with left-handed Terrance Bryant at quarterback and finished the season with walk-on Jonathan Smith at the helm. The five wins included non-conference victories over Nevada, Baylor and Utah State. The Beavers also won conference games against Stanford and in one of the most memorable games in Beaver history Riley’s Beavers beat #15 Oregon in an iconic 44-41 overtime thriller.

That earned Riley a five-year, $3.75 million contract with the San Diego Chargers.

So Riley’s de facto year-three was coached by Dennis Erickson and quarterbacked by Jonathan Smith. That ‘99 team finished with a 7-5 record and a bowl appearance - the first winning record in 29 years and breaking a 35 year bowl drought.

Jerry Pettibone (1991-96)

Jerry Pettibone was hired in 1991 to replace Dave Kragthorpe as the Beavers decided to move away from Kragthorpe’s all-aerial attack in favor of Pettibone’s triple option ground game. Kragthorpe had compiled a 17-48-2 record in his six seasons but finished the 1990 season just 1-10.

As one might imagine, the first few seasons were tough as the Beavers needed overhauls at every offensive position. Oregon State won one game in each of the first two seasons with Oregon City product Ian Shields behind center.

But one of those victories came in year one against Oregon. It is said that Pettibone, after a 27-14 loss to California in game nine, started preparing for the Oregon Ducks - despite the fact that #3 Washington was coming to Corvallis the following week. The Beavers got pummeled 58-6 by the Huskies, but beat the Ducks 14-3 in the season finale for Pettibone’s first and perhaps best win of his Beaver career.

Heading into year three, it would be a stretch to say there was widespread optimism, but Oregon State brought in quarterback Rahim Muhammad with hopes that his speed and experience as an option quarterback would be a difference-maker - and it was - as the Beavers won four games. Included was Pettibone’s second consecutive win at Autzen Stadium, a 15-12 victory that ended the season on a high note and did provide optimism for year four.

In the end, Pettibone would finish his six-year run with a 13-52-1 overall record. He had only six Pac-12 wins in the bunch, but two of them were against Oregon. In fact, Pettibone's Beavers played the Ducks tough every year except his final season. After beating Oregon in year one 14-3, he lost at Parker Stadium the following year 7-0. He beat Oregon again in year three and lost in year four 17-13 and 12-10 the following year.

Pettibone’s last year was 1996 when his team finished their 2-9 season with a 49-13 thumping by the Ducks.

Conclusion

Every newly hired coach talks about changing the culture and bringing in better talent. And in every hire there are other circumstances - both Jerry Pettibone and Mike Riley I had to deal with scheme make-overs that upped the degree of difficulty.

Gary Andersen felt like the team’s work ethic was his biggest obstacle.

And with Jonathan Smith, the biggest issue was a fractured locker room. It is in this area that Smith has shined through his first two years. He has increased the talent level, players are getting stronger and faster, the X’s and O’s seem to be in good hands - but what makes it all go is a group of players working hard for each other.

So after a 5-7 season optimism is high heading into year three.

Readers: what are your expectations for Beaver football and Coach Smith for the 2020 season? Share your comments below.

Reach out to Kerry Eggers here.

Be sure to sign up for my emails. Every email subscriber on August 31 will be entered for a drawing to win a signed copy of the book Bill Schonely and I wrote, Wherever You May Be…The Bill Schonely Story, available in bookstores everywhere.