Blake Anderson is officially no longer the head football coach at Utah State University.
Anderson, who was on administrative leave for the past two weeks after receiving notice from the university that his employment was going to be terminated, was fired by USU Thursday night, Anderson’s attorney Tom Mars announced in a social media post.
Utah State confirmed Anderson’s firing later Thursday.
“We were disappointed to learn this evening that Utah State University has terminated the employment of head football coach Blake Anderson,” Mars wrote. “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.”
Mars went on to note that he and his firm will “be pursuing all available legal remedies on his (Anderson’s) behalf.”
Anderson had been afforded 14 days to respond after being notified of Utah State’s intent to terminate his employment, per his employment agreement, and did respond with a 70-page document that was submitted to USU on Monday.
At that time, Mars noted that “we won’t be commenting or releasing the response while Coach Anderson is still employed by USU.”
Anderson is now no longer employed by the university and Mars noted that he (Anderson) will make his own public statement “at the appropriate time.”
In its July 2nd press release, Utah State explained its decision to fire Anderson by citing alleged “significant violations of his contractual obligations related to USU’s employee reporting requirements,” the university said in its July 2 press release.
Specifically, the university noted that “these reporting requirements include a prohibition on employees outside the USU Office of Equity from investigating issues of sexual misconduct, including domestic violence.”
The press release added that Anderson allegedly “failed to manage the team in a manner that reflects USU’s academic values.”
An updated statement released Thursday by the university addressed Anderson’s response to his firing, noting that Anderson, “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.”
Said university president President Elizabeth Cantwell: “While I recognize that today’s decision has a significant impact, it is the only one that could be made based on the facts. We are committed to moving forward in building a winning Athletics program grounded in student success and integrity.”
Defensive coordinator Nate Dreiling will serve as the interim head coach of the Aggies for the upcoming 2024-25 college football season, which begins for USU on Aug. 31 at home against Robert Morris.
With Anderson’s firing now official, Utah State football players will have a 30-day window in which they can enter their names into the NCAA transfer portal.
The Aggies have already been remade this year, with some 50-plus new players on the roster compared to last season, and now, a mere 44 days before the season, any USU player can — by NCAA rule — leave the program.
