USU: Ex-coach's 'fact-finding mission' broke rules

Utah State‘s athletic director and university president told football coach Blake Anderson that he was fired for attempting to personally investigate the circumstances of a player’s domestic violence arrest, according to a termination letter obtained by ESPN Friday.

Anderson contacted the girlfriend and roommate of a Utah State football player in April 2023 after learning that the player had been arrested due to an alleged domestic abuse incident, according to an investigation commissioned by the university. Anderson said he was on a “fact-finding mission” to determine if the player should be suspended or if they needed to take any further action, according to an investigative report obtained via public records request.

University officials received the final report, which was conducted by the Husch Blackwell law firm, on July 1. The school announced it has placed Anderson on leave on July 2 and formalized their decision to fire him on Thursday. A letter signed by athletic director Diana Sabau and university president Elizabeth Cantwell cited several reasons for firing him, but highlighted his efforts to “investigate” the player’s behavior rather than immediately report the issue to the university’s Office of Equity.

“Most egregiously, you engaged in investigative efforts regarding the domestic violence arrest, including meeting with and collecting written statements from the potential victim and another witness,” the letter states. “You undertook these actions following an arrest and while a criminal investigation was ongoing.”

Anderson denied mishandling the situation via his attorney, Tom Mars. Mars said that he will pursue “all available legal remedies” while stating the school owed Anderson the buyout money guaranteed in his contract, a public apology and a retraction of its “defamatory press release.”

ESPN obtained an excerpt of the 70-page response Anderson submitted to Utah State earlier this week, which cited a “sham investigation” by the university and claimed the school was intent on firing him for cause. The response states Anderson was not required to report any information about the incident, but that the coach did inform Jeremy Bovee, who was then the school’s interim athletic director.

According to Anderson’s response, he “spent just over a day attempting to find out what his player was arrested for and why to determine whether any report was required. The evidence shows beyond question that Coach Anderson satisfied the requirements of all USU policies — including the inapplicable ones which USU mistakenly relied on in terminating his employment.”

Sabau and Cantwell said that Anderson’s responses “failed to acknowledge your responsibilities as head coach” and “sought to make excuses.”

The university also fired Bovee and football staff member Austin Albrecht for violating university policies connected to the reporting of domestic and sexual violence. Bovee last week announced his intention to file a grievance, pursuant to university policy, and said he and two other Utah State employees reported an incident that occurred in April 2023 to the university’s Office of Equity.

Anderson told investigators that he spoke with the unnamed football player on the same day that Albrecht informed him the player had been arrested. According to the report, when the player informed Anderson that his girlfriend would support him, Anderson contacted the girlfriend and the player’s roommate, who told him nothing violent had occurred.

“Coach Anderson did not want to suspend [the] Student Athlete if he had not done anything wrong, so he and Mr. Bovee decided to investigate and obtain more facts before taking further action,” the report states.

Anderson told investigators that he didn’t know he had to report the arrest to the university’s Office of Equity because it occurred off-campus and was “dealt with by the authorities.”

“It didn’t matter to USU what we said to rip their case to shreds. The die was cast. I’d be surprised if USU even considered our response,” Mars said in a statement provided to ESPN on Friday. “Contrary to USU’s press releases, this dispute has nothing to do with any violations of Title IX. None were even alleged. What’s more, the USU policy Coach Anderson was falsely accused of violating is entitled ‘Non-Title IX Policy.'”

Utah State policy states that all coaches and administrators in the athletic department must submit a report about any incidents of sexual misconduct to the school’s Title IX office within 24 hours of learning about them. The university’s letter to Anderson said domestic violence incidents fall under this category.

In addition to the April 2023 incident, the university’s termination letter also states that Anderson allowed the football team’s academic performance to deteriorate under his leadership. The letter said Utah State’s team had one of the 12 lowest scores among Division I schools on the NCAA’s Academic Progress Rate during the past two years.

“While I recognize that today’s decision has a significant impact, it is the only one that could be made based on the facts,” Cantwell said in a statement. “We are committed to moving forward in building a winning athletics program grounded in student success and integrity.”

Anderson went 23-17 with a Mountain West title at Utah State and is 74-54 overall as an FBS coach. The Aggies open the 2024 season on Aug. 31 against Robert Morris.

Defensive coordinator Nate Dreiling has been named the Aggies’ interim coach for the 2024 season and represented the school last week at Mountain West media days. Dreiling previously was defensive coordinator at New Mexico State.