Former Utah State coach Blake Anderson intends to sue his former employer for wrongful termination, the ex-Aggies coach announced Wednesday. Anderson’s lawyers released a statement, accusing Utah State administrators and athletic director Diana Sabau of leading “what is essentially a public smear campaign” against the former coach.
“The public arena is typically not the preferred place for these types of disputes to be aired, but given the amount of misinformation that has been publicly stated and released by USU, and more particularly Ms. Sabau, Coach Anderson herein states publicly and with certainty that he completely denies having engaged in any wrongdoing, and looks forward to the truth and details underlying that truth being revealed through the appropriate process – in a court of law before a selected jury of his peers,” the statement reads.
Utah State fired Anderson on July 19 after an internal investigation concluded he had violated the university policies concerning Title IX.
“This action is based on significant violations of his contractual obligations related to US’s employee reporting requirements,” the school said in a 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 reflect’s USU’s academic values.”
Utah State told ESPN that Anderson contacted the girlfriend and roommate of a Utah State football player who was arrested for alleged domestic violence in April 2023. Anderson told school administrators he was on a “fact-finding mission” to determine what punitive measures, if any, Utah State should take in response to the incident.
A letter laying out the reasons for Anderson’s firing cited his personal investigation and accused him of looking into the player’s behavior rather than immediately reporting the issue to the university’s Office of Equity
The 55-year-old Anderson was set to return for his fourth season with the Aggies, who open their 2024 slate on Aug. 31 against Robert Morris. Anderson was hired to replace Gary Andersen at Utah State in 2021 after seven years at Arkansas State.
Anderson immediately led the Aggies to an 11-3 record with a Mountain West title and a win over Oregon State in the Los Angeles Bowl. The Aggies also placed 24th in the final AP Top 25, the first time they finished the year ranked since 2018 and just their third ranked finish of the century.
Utah State hasn’t enjoyed as much success over the past two years, however. The Aggies have gone 6-7 in each of the last two seasons with a 9-7 mark in MWC play during that span. They’ve also lost two consecutive bowl games and have finished no better than tied for third in the Mountain West’s Mountain division.
Defensive coordinator Nate Dreiling will serve as Utah State’s interim coach for the 2024 season.
