Utah State informs football coach Blake Anderson of intent to terminate employment
Utah State informed Blake Anderson of its intent to terminate his employment as head football coach "for actions taken in spring 2023," the school announced.
"These actions violated both his employment agreement and university policy," the school said in a statement, adding that Anderson has 14 days to respond.
"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 for sexual misconduct — including domestic violence — and prohibit employees from investigating disclosures of sexual misconduct themselves," Utah State said.
Action Network's Brett McMurphy reported that Utah State athletic director Diana Sabau told the school's staff that Anderson was originally placed on leave as a the result of an investigation.
McMurphy also quoted a source who said, "It didn't sound good."
Defensive coordinator Nate Dreiling has been named the Aggies' interim coach, according to ESPN's Pete Thamel.
News of Anderson's departure from the school comes with 53 days until the start of the 2024 football season.
In three seasons, Anderson went 23-17 overall and led the Aggies to a bowl game each year.
Anderson is 74-54 in his career as a head coach in college football at Arkansas State and Utah State.
He went 51-37 at Arkansas State from 2014 to 2020, winning two Sun Belt conference championships and was 2-4 in bowl games with the Red Wolves.
Anderson went 11-3 in his first season with Utah State, winning the Mountain West league title and won the LA Bowl.
Utah State placed No. 24 in the AP top 25 college football rankings in his first year as head coach.
A former player, Anderson was a quarterback and wide receiver at Baylor and Sam Houston State.
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JAMES PARKS
James Parks is the founder and publisher of College Football HQ. He previously covered football for 247Sports and CBS Interactive. College Football HQ joined the Sports Illustrated Fannation Network in 2022.