Utah State to fire football coach Blake Anderson following Title IX investigation
Utah State has told head football coach Blake Anderson it plans to fire him regarding an incident that took place in spring 2023, the university announced Tuesday.
ESPN first reported Tuesday morning that Anderson was being placed on administrative leave. Utah State officials then announced its plans to fire him, saying it determined Anderson "violated both his employment agreement and university policy."
"This decision comes after a thorough external review of alleged noncompliance with university policies that implement Title IX, which require full and timely reporting of disclosures of sexual misconduct − including domestic violence − and prohibit employees from investigating disclosures of sexual misconduct themselves," Utah State said in a statement.
Officials said Anderson has 14 days to respond to the decision. Citing state public record laws and university policies, Utah State officials said they could not release any additional information related to his eventual dismissal until all opportunities to respond and/or appeal have expired, which is 14 days.
Deputy athletic director Jerry Bovee, who served as the interim athletic director in 2023, and the football director of player development Austin Albrecht were also fired "for violations of university policies related to the reporting of sexual and domestic violence and failures of professional responsibilities."
Athletic director Diana Sabau told the football players and staff of the decision and announced defensive coordinator and defensive ends coach Nate Dreiling will be the team's interim head coach for the 2024 season.
"As leaders, we are responsible for ensuring allegations of USU policy violations are investigated," Sabau and university president Elizabeth Cantwell said in a statement. "Today's actions are the result of a thorough external investigation, and we believe the evidence demands immediate action. Our job is to fearlessly hold ourselves and others accountable for their conduct and to make sure that, for the sake of our students and our community, we are living the values of our university."
Anderson, who previously coached at Arkansas State, has coached the Aggies for three seasons. He had a 23-17 record in Logan, Utah, and won the 2021 Mountain West Conference title. Utah State went 6-7 last season and lost to Georgia State in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl to end the season.