Blake Anderson, who was suspended and then fired as Utah State head football coach on Tuesday, has hired high-profile attorney Tom Mars to defend himself, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel. Utah State announced the termination of Anderson’s contract shortly after the news broke.
Anderson was ousted by the Aggies, along with a number of administrators working above him, for allegedly failing to comply with Title IX, the university announced, specifically failure to report sexual misconduct and violence. Utah State appointed Nate Dreiling as interim head coach.
However, Mars is already posturing strongly for Anderson and claiming the school will have a difficult time in court to fire Anderson for cause, calling it an “uphill battle.” Mars also staked out that idea that the blame may lie with the administrators who also got the boot.
“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 said, according to Thamel.
The announcement from Utah State laying out Anderson’s dismissal briefly explained how the university reached its decision.
“This decision comes after a thorough 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,” a release from the school read.
“Associate Vice President & Deputy Athletic Director of External Affairs Jerry Bovee (Interim Athletic Director, 2023) and Utah State Football Director of Player Development & 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 university is unable to release any additional information until all opportunities to respond and/or appeal have expired, which is a minimum of 14 days per Utah’s public records laws and USU policies.
President Elizabeth R. Cantwell and athletic director Diana Sabau sent an email to faculty and staff Tuesday morning after meeting with student athletes and staff of the football program to inform them regarding Anderson.
“As leaders, we are responsible for ensuring allegations of USU policy violations are investigated,” the email regarding Anderson read. “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.”
In three years with the Aggies, Anderson was 23-17 and led the team to a bowl game each season. Anderson is 74-54 as a head coach with Arkansas State and Utah State.
On3’s Nick Kosko contributed to this report.
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