Blake Anderson officially out as head coach of Aggies football team

LOGAN — Blake Anderson is no longer the head football coach at Utah State.

Anderson's lawyer, Tom Mars, posted on the social media platform X Thursday night that Utah State officially terminated Anderson's employment.

Utah State made the news official later that night, saying that Anderson "failed to manage the team in a manner that reflects USU's academic values."

The university said Anderson violated his contract based on "employee reporting requirements," which included a "prohibition on employees outside the USU Office of Equity from investigating issues of sexual misconduct, including domestic violence."

"While I recognize that today's decision has a significant impact, it is the only one that could be made based on the facts," university President Elizabeth Cantwell said. "We are committed to moving forward in building a winning athletics program grounded in student success and integrity."

Mars said the situation was "very disappointing."

"Coach Anderson's legal team believes this decision — as well as USU's inflammatory July 2nd press release — violate the terms of coach Anderson's employment agreement and the implied covenant of good faith," Mars said. "We will be pursuing all legal remedies on his behalf."

The university informed Anderson on July 2 of its intent to terminate his contract "for actions taken in spring 2023" that "violated both his employment agreement and university policy."

The violation, the university said at the time, related to a lack of promptly reporting issues relating to sexual assault and domestic violence. Anderson had two weeks to respond, per his contract.

Mars on Monday posted on X that he submitted a 70-page response to Utah State athletic director Diana Sabau, though the details of the response were not made public.

Deputy athletic director Jerry Bovee and the football program's director of player development Austin Albrecht were also fired on July 2.

Defensive coordinator Nate Dreiling will be the interim coach for the 2024 season.

Shortly after Mars' statement, star Utah State safety Ike Larsen, whose name had been potentially linked to the transfer portal if Anderson was fired, posted on X that he could not "express enough how big of a disappointment this is for every student-athletes and for Utah State."

But Larsen remained committed to helping the Aggies for the 2024 season.

"It's time for all of Aggie Nation to lock arms and unite as one," he said. "Our goal has stayed the same as we prepare to win a Mountain West championship. Go Aggies!"

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