Former Utah State Football Coach Blake Anderson Files Lawsuit Against School

Nov 20, 2024, 12:51 PM

BOISE, ID - NOVEMBER 25: Head coach Blake Anderson of the Utah State Aggies coaches up his team during second half action against the Boise State Broncos at Albertsons Stadium on November 25, 2022 in Boise, Idaho. Boise State won the game 42-23.

BY SAMANTHA HERRERA AND MARY CULBERTSON

KSL Sports

LOGAN — Former Utah State University head football coach Blake Anderson filed a lawsuit against the school on Tuesday claiming “significant damages and reputational harm” for breach of contract.

The lawsuit comes four months after USU fired Anderson after an investigation found that he failed to comply with Title IX policies when handling a situation with a player in 2023. The lawsuit claims USU terminated his employment “for convenience” rather than “for cause,” as addressed in his employment contract.

RELATED: Utah State Terminates Football Coach Blake Anderson

BREAKING: Former USU head football coach Blake Anderson files a lawsuit against the school, claiming damages for breach of contract.https://t.co/Pbsrjwapcn

— KSL 5 TV (@KSL5TV) November 20, 2024

The compensatory damages Anderson claims in the suit exceed $15 million due to his plans to coach “on an upward trajectory for at least another 10 years.”

Utah State football player arrested

According to USU, when Anderson learned the player had been involved in a sexual misconduct case, he went on his own “fact-finding mission” to determine what possible consequences the player should face. USU argued Anderson failed to report the misconduct according to the school’s Title IX policies.

The lawsuit argued Anderson’s firing boiled down to the “one, single incident,” and it detailed the incident as such:

Depending on which witness one believes, the former USU football player: (a) pulled the string on his girlfriend’s hoodie; or (b) held the door shut so that she could not enter his apartment as she tried to force her way in; or (c) as she maintains to this day, never laid a hand on her at all in a manner to harm her.

Contrarily, it was previously reported a witness told police a different story — they saw a man on top of a woman, holding her down on the ground as she cried and yelled “get off me,” and “you’re choking me.”

Anderson said in the lawsuit Tuesday that he was not immediately informed of the player’s arrest. Further, Anderson discussed the player’s transfer before his arrest on April 4, 2023 — the player said he was considering a transfer and would decide soon. He was arrested the next day.

Blake Anderson responds to termination

One day after the school officially relieved Anderson of duties in mid-July, Anderson’s attorney released a 70-page response.

The response implies that Utah State’s investigation was faulty, some or all of the allegations against Anderson are false, and the whole process unfolded the way it did so that USU doesn’t have to buy out his contract.

Part of the statement accused USU of wrongly firing three other employees, making contradictory statements regarding the investigation, forcing former Executive Associate AD Amy Crosbie to sign her own termination letter, and relying on alleged policy violations that were inapplicable.

RELATED: Anderson’s Representation Releases Part Of Response To USU

Excerpts from Coach Blake Anderson’s 70-page response to USU’s termination letter. ⬇️

Full response to follow with
attached exhibits, which include USU’s termination letter, investigation summary, court records, and witness statements. https://t.co/tJJMElgxnV pic.twitter.com/HrdVVGFFOF

— Tom Mars (@TomMarsLaw) July 19, 2024

These claims were preceded by saying that Utah State was negligent in understanding “the limitations of its own policies.”

The response also revealed similar cases where schools paid settlements to former coaches.

Anderson and Mars Law concluded the response by saying that Utah State “owes Coach Anderson not only the full amount of his buyout but also a retraction of its defamatory press release and a public apology.