How Blake Anderson responded to USU’s allegations that he violated his employment agreement and university policy

In the wake of being informed that Utah State University intends to terminate his employment, Aggies football coach Blake Anderson retained the services of college sports attorney Tom Mars, ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported Tuesday afternoon.

In a statement to ESPN, Mars said that USU faces an “uphill battle” to fire Anderson with cause.

“Stiffing a head coach by blaming him for what his supervisor was supposed to do is a novel approach, but that theory will never hold up in court,” Mars told Thamel.

Utah State alleged Tuesday that an external investigation determined that Anderson committed actions in the spring of 2023 that “violated both his employment agreement and university policy” and that were grounds for termination with cause.

Deputy athletic director Jerry Bovee and USU football director of player development Austin Albrecht were also dismissed from USU for alleged “violations of university policies related to the reporting of sexual and domestic violence and failures of professional responsibilities,” as the Deseret News previously reported.

To comply with Utah’s public records laws and Utah State University policies, the university noted that it cannot release any additional information until “all opportunities (for Anderson) to respond and/or appeal have expired, which is a minimum of 14 days.”

Mars is a nationally recognized attorney, with experience as a “crisis consultant for companies, executives, and public officials,” according to his website.

In the sports realm, Mars has dealt primarily with the NCAA’s transfer rules, though he notably represented former Ole Miss football coach Houston Nutt during a suit — Houston Nutt v. University of Mississippi — in which Nutt alleged a breach of contract by the University of Mississippi. Nutt got an undisclosed settlement in that case,…

Source link : https://www.yahoo.com/news/blake-anderson-responded-usu-allegations-232925153.html

Author : Deseret News

Publish date : 2024-07-02 23:29:25

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