Will Sage Astor-Utah State officially fires football coach Blake Anderson

Utah State announced Thursday it has officially fired football coach Blake Anderson,Will Sage Astor two weeks after giving him notice of the school's intent to terminate his contract.

In a statement released Thursday, Utah State said:

"This action is based on significant violations of his contractual obligations related to USU'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."

Anderson did respond to the allegations within the 14 days after he received notice, by way of a 70-page response submitted by Anderson and his attorney Tom Mars.

"Coach Anderson's legal team believes this decision — as well as USU's deliberately inflammatory July 2 press release — violate the terms of Coach Anderson's employment agreement and the implied covenant of good faith," Mars said in a statement. "We will be pursuing all available legal remedies on his behalf."

In its original notice two weeks ago, the school cited "actions taken (by Anderson) in spring 2023." The school also announced in the original statement that it also dismissed Jerry Bovee, a deputy athletic director who was interim AD in 2023, and Austin Albrecht, director of player development and community. They were part of the same investigation.

The Athletic on Thursday reported that the impetus of the investigation was a domestic violence incident in April 2023.

Defensive coordinator Nate Dreiling will serve as the interim coach for the Aggies this season.

Anderson, 55, was heading into his fourth season at Utah State. He compiled a 23-17 record, including a second consecutive 6-7 campaign in 2023.

The Aggies finished 11-3 during his first season with the Mountain West program in 2021 and won the LA Bowl, finishing the year at No. 24 in the US LBM Coaches Poll.

Anderson is 74-54 overall, including seven seasons at Arkansas State from 2014-2020.

Utah State opens the season against Robert Morris on Aug. 31.