Blake Anderson’s tenure as the head football coach at Utah State University is over.
Utah State announced Tuesday that it informed “Anderson on Tuesday of (its) intent to terminate his employment agreement for actions taken in spring 2023. These actions violated both his employment agreement and university policy. Under his employment agreement Coach Anderson will have 14 days to respond.”
According to a university press release, the decision comes following an 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.”
Deputy athletic director Jerry Bovee and Utah State football director of player development and community Austin Albrecht have also been dismissed for violations of university policies “related to the reporting of sexual and domestic violence and failures of professional responsibilities,” the statement said.
According to USU, athletic director Diana Sabau met with the USU football team and staff Tuesday to inform them of the changes and to share that defensive coordinator Nate Dreiling will serve as USU football’s interim head coach for the 2024 season.
ESPN’s Pete Thamel first reported the news.
Junior safety Ike Larsen, one of the undisputed stars of the USU team, confirmed the news on social media shortly after Thamel’s report, posting a broken heart emoji on X.
In a combined statement, university president Elizabeth Cantwell and Sabau said, “As leaders, we are responsible for ensuring allegations of USU policy violations are investigated. 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. While recognizing the impact of these decisions on our student-athletes and football program, we will continue to take the steps necessary to deliver a respectful, transparent and winning culture at Utah State University.”
Blake Anderson’s college football career
Anderson has been the head coach of the Aggies since late 2020 and was entering his fourth year leading the program.
Formerly the head coach at Arkansas State, Anderson won a Mountain West Conference championship his first year in Logan — a first in program history — and then followed that campaign with back-to-back 6-7 seasons.
Anderson would have been one of the longest-tenured coaches in the conference had he remained at Utah State, behind only Air Force’s Troy Calhoun, after an offseason that saw considerable coaching turnover with three coaches fired (Andy Avalos, Ken Wilson and Danny Gonzalez), two retiring (Brady Hoke and Craig Bohl) and another taking a job at Arizona (Brent Brennan), as the Deseret News previously reported.
Nationally, Anderson has been viewed as a good coach for the Aggies, No. 17 among all Group of Five coaches according to CBS Sports’ David Cobb.
Anderson and his wife, Brittany Anderson, announced the birth of their baby boy, Cannon, less than a week ago.
Beyond the football field, Anderson had a real impact at Utah State when it comes to mental health awareness.
Anderson’s eldest son Cason Anderson died by suicide in late February 2022 and since then Anderson and his family have been relentless in promoting mental health awareness, in part through Utah State’s athletics Robert Cason Anderson Mental Health and Wellness Fund. Established in honor of Cason Anderson, the fund has sought to “provide enhancements to the USU Athletic Department’s mental health and wellness resources.” Included in that are “mental health and wellness counseling services, educational opportunities, training and programing for student-athletes, coaches and support staff.”
Blake Anderson was featured in a segment on ESPN’s College GameDay last season, telling his and Cason’s story while promoting mental health awareness.
This story will be updated.