LOGAN, Utah — Utah State football coach Blake Anderson said Tuesday he will be fired for cause following an outside investigation into allegations that he failed to comply with Title IX rules regarding reporting incidents of sexual misconduct.
Nate Dreiling, who previously served as Utah State’s defensive coordinator and defensive ends coach, will serve as interim coach during the upcoming season. Athletic director Diana Sabau met with players and staff Tuesday to inform them of the move, the university announced in a news release.
Utah State also said that associate vice president and deputy athletic director of external affairs Jerry Bovee and football director of player development and community Austin Albrecht have been fired “for violations of university policy regarding reporting of sexual and domestic violence and neglect of professional responsibilities.”
Bovee served as Utah State’s interim athletic director in 2023. Utah State said Anderson would be fired for actions that occurred in the spring of 2023.
Utah State noted that Title IX policy “requires complete and timely reporting of disclosures of sexual misconduct – including domestic violence – and prohibits employees from independently investigating disclosures of sexual misconduct.”
“As leaders, we have a responsibility to investigate allegations of violations of USU policies,” Sabau and Utah State President Elizabeth Cantwell said in an email to faculty and staff. “Today’s actions are the result of a thorough external investigation, and we believe the evidence warrants immediate action. Our job is to unflinchingly hold ourselves and others accountable for their behavior and ensure that, in the best interest of our students and our community, we live up to the values of our university.”
“While we recognize the impact of these decisions on our student-athletes and football program, we will continue to take the necessary steps to create a respectful, transparent and winning culture at Utah State University.”
School officials noted that Anderson has 14 days to respond to the university’s decision under the terms of his employment agreement. School officials said they could not release additional information until all opportunities to respond or appeal the decision had expired.
Tom Mars, an attorney representing Anderson, said Utah State had no justification for firing Anderson for any reason.
“Like any university, Utah State could fire Blake Anderson for any reason as long as they paid his severance,” Mars said. “But based on the facts alleged and the language in Blake’s employment agreement, USU is going to have an uphill battle if they want to fire him for cause just to avoid paying Blake what he’s owed.”
“Tensively blaming a head coach for something his supervisor allegedly didn’t do is a novel approach that hasn’t been tried before, but that theory will never hold up in court.”
Anderson went 23-17 in three seasons at Utah State, with the Aggies reaching bowl games each of those years. He went 11-3 in 2021 before going 6-7 in each of the last two years.
He came to Utah State after going 51-37 at Arkansas State from 2014-20. He took a leave of absence prior to the 2019 season, just before his wife, Wendy Anderson, passed away after a two-year battle with breast cancer. He returned for the second game of that season and helped Arkansas State go 8-5.
