Utah State football coach Blake Anderson was fired officially on Thursday after he attempted to personally investigate the circumstances surrounding a player’s domestic violence arrest in 2023, school officials told him, according to ESPN’s Dan Murphy and Adam Rittenberg.
Anderson, according to his termination letter and an investigation commissioned by the university, contacted the girlfriend and roommate of a former Utah State player in April 2023 after that player had been arrested on a domestic dispute charge. Anderson said he did so on a “fact-finding mission” to determine if that player should be suspended or not.
While the school said there were several reasons why Anderson was fired, the biggest was that he chose to “investigate” the incident himself instead of reporting it immediately to the university.
“Most egregiously, you engaged in investigative efforts regarding the domestic violence arrest, including meeting with and collecting written statements from the potential victim and another witness,” Anderson’s termination letter said, via ESPN. “You undertook these actions following an arrest and while a criminal investigation was ongoing.”
Anderson was first placed on administrative leave on July 2. The university also fired former interim athletic director Jeremy Bovee and football staff member Austin Albrecht for violating university policies regarding domestic violence reporting.
Anderson said he spoke with the football player the day he was told he had been arrested, and that, after learning the player’s girlfriend would support him, Anderson contacted the girlfriend and player’s roommate.
“Coach Anderson did not want to suspend [the] Student Athlete if he had not done anything wrong, so he and Mr. Bovee decided to investigate and obtain more facts before taking further action,” the report states, via ESPN.
Anderson denied claims that he contacted or interviewed the player’s girlfriend, and said he only learned of the arrest through the player in question’s roommate. Anderson submitted a 70-page response to Utah State, said the university conducted a “sham investigation” and that he believes the school was set on firing him for cause. He said he “spent just over a day attempting to find out what his player was arrested for and why to determine whether any report was required.”
“He couldn’t have been ‘investigating a domestic assault’ he had no knowledge of until the teammate told him what had happened,” his attorney, Tom Mars, said in a statement. “He immediately called the interim AD [Jeremy Bovee] … It didn’t mater to USU what we said to rip their case to shreds. The die was cast. I’d be surprised if USU even considered our response.”
Mars said that Anderson will pursue “all available legal remedies,” including securing the buyout money guaranteed in Anderson’s contract, an apology and more.
Anderson was set to start his fourth season with the Aggies this fall. They went 6-7 last season and made a bowl game for a third straight year. Anderson went 23-17 with the Aggies, where he was hired after a seven-year run at Arkansas State. Utah State has since promoted defensive coordinator Nate Dreiling as their interim coach for the 2024 season.
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