Blake Anderson was fired as football coach of Utah State yesterday.
Their season starts August 31st. Should be interesting to see who they find to coach.
The reason?
Utah State said an external investigation found Anderson did not comply with the school’s Title IX policies, which require timely reporting of sexual misconduct and domestic violence and bar employees from investigating reports of sexual misconduct themselves. The school also fired deputy athletic director Jerry Bovee and football staff member Austin Albrecht for violating university policies connected to the reporting of domestic and sexual violence. Bovee last week announced his intention to file a grievance, pursuant to university policy, and said he and two other Utah State employees reported an incident that occurred in April 2023 to the university’s Office of Equity.
There’s a second day story that gives more specifics. Apparently, Coach Anderson decided he was going to play Perry Mason (or was it Paul Drake):
Anderson contacted the girlfriend and roommate of a Utah State football player in April 2023 after learning that the player had been arrested due to an alleged domestic abuse incident, according to an investigation commissioned by the university. Anderson said he was on a “fact-finding mission” to determine if the player should be suspended or if they needed to take any further action, according to an investigative report obtained via public records request.
…
“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,” the letter states. “You undertook these actions following an arrest and while a criminal investigation was ongoing.”
Coach Anderson, of course, says the university was out to get him, the charges are unfounded, and he did nothing wrong or in violation of policy.
This entry was posted on Friday, July 19th, 2024 at 3:09 pm and is filed under Firings, Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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