Utah State University fired football coach Blake Anderson on Thursday, citing academic issues — and excuses made during the appeal process — in addition to previous claims that the coach violated Title IX reporting requirements.
USU said the firing was based on “significant violations of his contractual obligations related to USU’s employee reporting requirements,” which include a “prohibition on employees outside the USU Office of Equity from investigating issues of sexual misconduct, including domestic violence.” The university also said that Anderson “failed to manage the team in a manner that reflects USU’s academic values.”
“While I recognize that today’s decision has a significant impact, it is the only one that could be made based on the facts,” USU President Elizabeth Cantwell said in a statement Thursday. “We are committed to moving forward in building a winning athletics program grounded in student success and integrity.”
USU said Anderson violated university policies in the spring of 2023.
The university notified Anderson two weeks ago that it intended to terminate his contract. During the 14 days he had to appeal his termination, Anderson submitted a 70-page rebuttal, according to his attorney, Tom Mars.
“To USU’s disappointment, Anderson’s response failed to acknowledge his 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,” Utah State said in a news release.
Mars released his own statement on social media: “Coach Anderson’s legal team believes this decision — as well as USU’s deliberately inflammatory July 2nd press release — violate the terms of Coach Anderson’s employment agreement and the implied covenant of good faith. We will be pursuing all available legal remedies on his behalf.”
Utah State director of player development Austin Albrecht and former deputy athletic director Jerry Bovee were also terminated this month for failing to comply with the university’s policies in regards to reporting sexual misconduct and domestic violence, USU said.
Amy Crosbie, who was the executive associate athletic director for internal affairs and senior woman administrator for nearly five years, was also fired by the university on July 8. No reason for her termination was given.
Utah State safety Ike Larsen, who is from Cache Valley, said in a statement that he was disappointed by the news.
“As a local kid playing for my dream school, I am heartbroken with the dismissals of Coach Anderson, Jerry Bovee, Amy Crosbie and Austin Albrecht,” Larsen said in a statement on X. “These great people have helped make me the person I am today and have elevated my experience as a student-athlete at Utah State University. All of them care deeply for every student-athlete at Utah State. And they care about us as people, not just players. I cannot express enough how big of a disappointment this is for every student-athlete and for Utah State.”
Anderson had coached at Utah State for three seasons. He had a 23-17 record, won a Mountain West Conference championship in 2021 and took the Aggies to three straight bowl games.
Defensive coordinator Nate Dreiling has been named USU’s interim head coach for this season.
Anderson was part of another investigation in Logan when one of his former players recorded the coach telling the team that it “has never been more glamorized to be a victim” of sexual assault. He also said the football team was a “target” and “way more at risk” for being accused of sexual assault.
“You don’t need to put yourself in a position that you can create a victim,” he said in the recording. “And it doesn’t take a whole lot. So it scares the s--- out of me.”
The player who recorded the statements, Patrick Maddox, said Anderson forced him to apologize to the group for recording. Maddox later filed a lawsuit alleging retaliation for the recording. The lawsuit was settled for $150,000.