Utah State Moves On From Blake Anderson After Concerning Investigation

Blake Anderson, the head coach of the Utah State Aggies, is not likely to return to the football program after being placed on administrative leave. As it turns out, an investigation was launched and the findings led to the program's final decision.

It's not a great situation at Utah State right now, as reports indicate that Anderson was allegedly let go because of a failure to report "sexual misconduct — including domestic violence — and prohibit employees from investigating disclosures of sexual misconduct themselves," according to an announcement the school made.

Utah State also let go of Associate Vice President & Deputy Athletic Director of External Affairs Jerry Bovee and Utah State Director of Player Development & Community Austin Albrecht.

"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 of sexual misconduct — including domestic violence — and prohibit employees from investigating disclosures of sexual misconduct themselves.

"Associate Vice President & Deputy Athletic Director of External Affairs Jerry Bovee (Interim Athletic Director, 2023) and Utah State Football Director of Player Development & Community Austin Albrecht have also been dismissed for violations of university policies related to the reporting of sexual and domestic violence and failures of professional responsibilities."

That's all the information available for now as Utah State claims that Blake Anderson, Jerry Bovee, and Austin Albrecht have 14 days to respond to the administrative leave ruling. Once those 14 days are up, then the football program may reveal more information on the alleged incident.

"Consistent with Utah's public records laws and USU policies, the university is not able to release any additional information until all opportunities to respond and/or appeal have expired, which is a minimum of 14 days."

Three players on the Utah State roster were arrested for sexual assault , per Brett McMurphy of The Action Network. The investigation possibly began due to those arrests.

"Utah State coach Blake Anderson is unlikely to return after being put on administrative leave, sources told the Action Network. AD Diana Sabau told the staff Anderson’s leave was the result of an investigation. “It didn’t sound good,” a source said. Last year, 3 players were arrested for sexual assault. Anderson was 23-17 in 3 years w/3 consecutive bowl trips at Utah State."

With Blake Anderson out, the Aggies announced that defensive coordinator, Nate Dreiling, will take over as interim coach , according to Pete Thamel of ESPN. Dreiling has spent his entire coaching career on the defensive side of the ball. He's spent time working for Pittsburgh State, Oregon, Southeast Missouri State, New Mexico State, and Utah State.

"Sources: Utah State football coach Blake Anderson on leave, not expected to return. Defensive coordinator Nate Dreiling has been named the interim coach."

The investigation could be ongoing. More information may come to light in the coming weeks. It's not clear what's in store for Blake Anderson's future right now. As for Utah State, they'll focus on moving on from this investigation with Nate Dreiling leading the way.

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