In the wake of being informed that Utah State University intends to terminate his employment, Aggies football coach Blake Anderson retained the services of college sports attorney Tom Mars, ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported Tuesday afternoon.
In a statement to ESPN, Mars said that USU faces an “uphill battle” to fire Anderson with cause.
“Stiffing a head coach by blaming him for what his supervisor was supposed to do is a novel approach, but that theory will never hold up in court,” Mars told Thamel.
Utah State alleged Tuesday that an external investigation determined that Anderson committed actions in the spring of 2023 that “violated both his employment agreement and university policy” and that were grounds for termination with cause.
Deputy athletic director Jerry Bovee and USU football director of player development Austin Albrecht were also dismissed from USU for alleged “violations of university policies related to the reporting of sexual and domestic violence and failures of professional responsibilities,” as the Deseret News previously reported.
To comply with Utah’s public records laws and Utah State University policies, the university noted that it cannot release any additional information until “all opportunities (for Anderson) to respond and/or appeal have expired, which is a minimum of 14 days.”
Mars is a nationally recognized attorney, with experience as a “crisis consultant for companies, executives, and public officials,” according to his website.
In the sports realm, Mars has dealt primarily with the NCAA’s transfer rules, though he notably represented former Ole Miss football coach Houston Nutt during a suit — Houston Nutt v. University of Mississippi — in which Nutt alleged a breach of contract by the University of Mississippi. Nutt got an undisclosed settlement in that case, along with a public apology from Ole Miss.
Anderson has been the head football coach at Utah State since late in 2020, when he was hired by then athletic director John Hartwell to replace Gary Andersen.
Anderson led USU to a Mountain West Conference championship in his first year in 2021, then followed up that performance with back-to-back 6-7 campaigns.
USU president Elizabeth Cantwell and athletic director Diana Sabau released a statement to university faculty and staff about Anderson’s pending termination on Tuesday.
“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.”