With the bombshell dropping earlier today that Oregon State University and Gary Andersen mutually parted ways, the Beavers held a press conference to discuss Andersen’s departure and the future of the program under Cory Hall.

Below are Brenden Slaughter’s five takeaways from the press conference conducted by Hall and Oregon State athletic director Scott Barnes.

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It was obvious on on Scott Barnes’ face when a reporter asked about how difficult this decision must have been given the closeness of the relationship between him and Andersen. Barnes had to fight back tears for several seconds before giving his quick response to the reporter's question. Throughout the press conference, Barnes reiterated that this was a an evolving conversation that eventually led to Andersen and Barnes deciding that it was the right decision for OSU and Andersen to part ways.

When asked about why this decision had to be made in the middle of the season, Barnes noted that he thought a change was necessary in terms of the trajectory of this football team moving forward.

“I believe that this is a reset for the football program,” Barnes said. “When the time comes that you don’t want to continue moving forward and that was Gary’s stake, we figured that the sooner the better. It gives us a chance to move forward in the process. It’s a difficult time but we will look at this as a reset for the program and a chance to move forward under Cory’s leadership.”

Now that I’ve had time to step back and think about this for what it is, this is still one of the most mind boggling things that I have ever seen in covering an athletic program. For a coach and a school to part ways during the season and have that coach forfeit all of his money is unprecedented and because of that, coach Andersen deserves our respect. He has given the Beavers an opportunity to not be financially constricted when they look for their new head football coach.

Often times in life, the hardest decisions are the ones that hurt the most.