Utah State fires Aggies football coach Blake Anderson

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

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

“These reporting requirements include prohibiting employees outside of the USU Equity Office 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, said in a statement on X that “all available legal remedies” would be used against the school. Mars said the firing decision and Utah State’s “deliberately inflammatory” press release on July 2, which outlined the reasons for Anderson’s expected firing, violated the terms of Anderson’s contract. Anderson coached Utah State the past three seasons and agreed in late 2021 to an extension through 2027.

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

Utah State said an external investigation found Anderson failed to comply with the school’s Title IX policies, which require timely reporting of sexual misconduct and domestic violence and prohibit employees from investigating reports of sexual misconduct on their own. The school also fired associate athletic director Jerry Bovee and football staff member Austin Albrecht for violating university policies related to reporting domestic and sexual violence. Bovee announced last week that he plans to file a complaint, in accordance with 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 sent the university a 70-page response to Anderson’s firing on Monday and told ESPN he plans 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 restate the plain language of USU 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 athletic program founded on student achievement and integrity.”

Anderson won the Mountain West title at Utah State and has a 74-54 overall record as an FBS coach. The Aggies will open the 2024 season on Aug. 31 against Robert Morris.