Wisconsin is becoming a hard place to coach because you will always be in the shadow of Barry Alvarez and consistent Rose Bowl trips are not enough to keep your job or to keep you happy here.

The legitimate criticism is that Coach Andersen hadn't yet recruited the right athletes to run the system he wanted (this would probably have corrected itself in time) and he compounded that problem by really mismanaging the QB situation this year (think Nelson-Heaps). He was blessed to have the best running back in the country and a very solid offensive line that was able to cover for the below-average play of the WRs and QBs.

UW was in no way on the verge of forcing him out nor was he really considered to have a hot seat so I think the fans are choosing to be thrilled as a way to deal with the fact that their guy chose to take a job at a lesser program. Imagine if KWhitt left Utah for Kentucky. Or if Bronco chose Army over BYU.

My opinion is that Wisconsin (in Paul Chryst) now has a coach that is not as good as Coach Andersen and those who are thrilled about it are probably not being honest with themselves.