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Earlier this month, the Utah State football program mysteriously placed head coach Blake Anderson on a leave of absence.
Fast forward to Thursday evening and Anderson is reportedly exploring taking legal action against the university after he was fired for “significant violations” related to the reporting requirements for all Utah State employees.
“This action is based on significant violations of his contractual obligations related to US’s employee reporting requirements. 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 reflects USU’s academic values,” the program said in a statement.
“Consistent with Anderson’s employment agreement, the university provided him written notice of its intent to terminate and 14 days to respond. To USU’s disappointment, Anderson’s response failed to acknowledge his responsibilities as a USU employee and as a head coach and instead sought to make excuses and unsuccessfully recast the clear language of USU’s policies.”
Blake Anderson Exploring Legal Options After Utah State Firing
Anderson, however, didn’t see things the same way. His attorney, Tom Mars, released a statement of his own on Thursday evening announcing that the coach was exploring his legal options.
Very disappointing. pic.twitter.com/gwc4JHO8t3
— Tom Mars (@TomMarsLaw) July 19, 2024
“We were disappointed to learn this evening that Utah State University has terminated the employment of head football coach Blake Anderson,” the statement read. “Coach Anderson’s legal team believes this decision – as well as USU’s deliberately inflammatory July 2nd press release – violate the terms of Coach Anderson’s Employment Agreement and the implied covenant of good faith.”
Anderson went 23-17 in 3 years and made three consecutive bowl games with the Aggies.