Utah St. fires Anderson as coach, cites violations

Utah State fired football coach Blake Anderson on Thursday, two weeks after informing him of its intent to terminate because of alleged actions in 2023 that the school said violated his contract and university policy.

The school cited “significant violations” related to the reporting requirements for all Utah State employees.

“These reporting requirements include a prohibition on employees outside the USU Office of Equity from investigating issues of sexual misconduct, including domestic violence,” the school said in a statement Thursday. “Additionally, Anderson failed to manage the team in a manner that reflects USU’s academic values.”

Anderson’s attorney Tom Mars, in a statement on X, said “all available legal remedies” will be pursued against the school. Mars said the firing decision and Utah State’s “deliberately inflammatory” news release July 2, which outlined the reasons for Anderson’s expected dismissal, violated the terms of Anderson’s contract. Anderson coached Utah State for the past three seasons and in late 2021 agreed to an extension through 2027.

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.

Utah State said an external investigation found Anderson did not comply with the school’s Title IX policies, which require timely reporting of sexual misconduct and domestic violence and bar employees from investigating reports of sexual misconduct themselves. The school also fired deputy athletic director Jerry 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.

Mars on Monday sent the school a 70-page response to Anderson’s termination, and told ESPN that he planned to release the document soon. Utah State referenced the response in its statement Thursday, saying it “failed to acknowledge [Anderson’s] responsibilities as a USU employee and as a head coach and instead sought to make excuses and unsuccessfully recast the clear language of USU’s policies.”

“While I recognize that today’s decision has a significant impact, it is the only one that could be made based on the facts,” university president Elizabeth Cantwell said in the 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.