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When Oregon State announced that Cory Hall would take over as the Beavers' interim head football coach on October 9, it was a mild initial surprise.
Why not a coordinator? Why not the veteran Dave Baldwin? Why choose the coach that has never been a coordinator or head coach at the college football level?
Well, our hats are off to Scott Barnes. He certainly made the right choice.
The Beavers lost by an average of 31.4 points per game in the five games OSU lost under Gary Andersen this season. Under Hall the past two games, Oregon State has lost both of them, but by a combined four points. Oregon State fell to No. 20 Stanford 15-14 on Thursday night.
After watching Hall on the sidelines during games and hearing from him during in his postgame press conferences, you'll want to run through a brick wall for him.
"Beaver football is changing," Hall said. "And this is evidence of it. Disappointed? Yes. But still encouraged. The season is not a wash. Anytime you're able to put a helmet on and compete, that's always a blessing. I'm proud of our players."
"[Beaver football] has changed in the personalities and the energy that everyone brings. It's not just myself alone. It's liberating. You teach these young men how to play a game within a game. You show them you have their best interest at heart, and it's not fake. It's not phony. I believe they feel and know that."
Oregon State's players have been outspoken on social media about their desire to keep Hall on as their permanent head coach. I would run through a brick wall for Hall, and his players certainly would as well.
"As far as myself and my staff for those players, we want to be the type of coaches that they want to run through brick walls for," said Hall. "We believe in them."
Hall noted that the expectations for this team has changed with him as OSU's head coach in terms of inflicting pain and expecting to win.
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"They know they should have beat that team, just like we should have beat Colorado," Hall said. "We should beat everybody that we line up against - that's our mindset. That's why we play."
Oregon State's star running backs Ryan Nall and Thomas Tyner had good things to say about their coach following the game.
"Coach Hall has brought a lot of energy to this team," Tyner said. "With Coach [Andersen] leaving, coach Hall has done a great job. He really motivates us to keep going. We know now how great of a team we are, and how great of a team we can be."
"Coach Hall has been harping that we're not the same team we were four weeks ago," Nall said. "We have to realize that and continue to fight no matter what happens."
