Though there is still more than a month until the first regular-season snap of the 2024 college football season, there already has been one major coaching change.
Utah State has officially fired head coach Blake Anderson after it informed him earlier in July that he would be dismissed for cause over allegations that he did not adhere to Title IX rules while also not keeping to the university’s “academic values,” the school said in a statement Thursday.
On Thursday night, The Athletic reported an investigation into Anderson took place after an alleged April 2023 domestic violence incident.
“This action is based on significant violations of his contractual obligations related to USU’s employee reporting requirements,” the school said in its statement. “These reporting requirements include a prohibition on employees outside the USU Office of Equity from investigating issues of sexual misconduct, including domestic violence.
“Additionally, Anderson failed to manage the team in a manner that reflects USU’s academic values.”
The official dismissal comes after the school announced its intention to make the move on July 2, the same day it announced the firings of associate vice president and deputy athletic director of external affairs Jerry Bovee and football director of player development and community Austin Albrecht over “violations of university policies related to the reporting of sexual and domestic violence and failures of professional responsibilities.”
Nate Dreiling, the team’s defensive coordinator, will be the interim head coach to start 2024.
Attorney Tom Mars, who is representing Anderson and reportedly sent a 70-page document to the school earlier this week in response to the expected dismissal, posted a statement on X saying that the former coach and his legal team will be pursuing all avenues possible in the firing.
“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 said in a statement on X.
Anderson coached at Arkansas State from 2014-20 before joining Utah State in 2021.
He went 11-3 and won the Mountain West in his first year at the helm, but finished with a 6-7 record in each of the last two seasons.
The Aggies open up the season against Robert Morris on Aug. 31.
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