Oregon State’s search to replace Gary Andersen is coming to a close, Football Scoop reports, with an expected announcement of Cal offensive coordinator Beau Baldwin to follow the team’s finale against Oregon. But The Portland TribuneI disputes the report.
Oregon State might be hiring Cal OC Beau Baldwin as head coach, which is a smart idea
The former Eastern Washington head coach has deep connections to the region and has scored plenty of points against Pac-12 teams.
Baldwin, a West Coast native and former Central Washington QB, has spent almost all of his coaching career in the Pacific Northwest at CWU and Eastern Washington, spending 2017 at Cal.
At FCS EWU, his teams were known for high-scoring offense, giving Pac-12 defenses fits, and making playoff runs. His Eagles reached the FCS semifinals four times and won the 2010 FCS national title.
Here were his marks as an FCS head coach against the better-resourced Pac-12:
Baldwin’s teams have regularly lit up the scoreboard. The Eagles scored 42 points per game in 2016, third-best in the FCS. They had a top-20 scoring offense in 2015, after they were No. 1 in 2014 and No. 7 in 2013.
The passing game’s been a focal point. Under Baldwin, EWU receiver Cooper Kupp became an All-American and one of the most prolific receivers in college football history. Last year’s team averaged 401 air yards per game, more than 30 yards more than the next-best team in the country. The Eagles had 54 passing touchdowns.
Cal’s 2017 offense struggled, with overhaul throughout the roster and coaching staff, but the rest of Baldwin’s body of work is solid.
For more on the Beavers going forward, visit Building the Dam. BTD on Baldwin, from a few days earlier:
This hiring would make a ton of sense, as it will give the Beavs a proven leader that can craft an offense out of the tools he has. Baldwin highlighted the importance of using what you have with an offense when he started at Cal.
“You’ve got to keep trying to learn and understand and try to evolve,” Baldwin claimed. “You’ve got to make sure, too, that it fits within what you believe, and your system. We were always able to kind of intermix some new ideas, new things, but all the while, not lose the foundation of who we are.”
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