Utah State University athletic director Diana Sabau said Friday that she had no “agenda” to clean house when moving to dismiss football coach Blake Anderson and two associate athletic directors like some, including Anderson’s attorney, have alleged.
As reported by The Salt Lake Tribune, Sabau stood by the Title IX investigation that she said led to the firing of Anderson, associate ADs Jerry Bovee and Amy Crosbie and several athletics staffers this month.
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“This independent investigation was commissioned before I was hired as an athletic director,” Sabau told The Salt Lake Tribune. “So these events happened in April. The independent investigation was commissioned in July of 2023. And then I came to campus and was hired in August [of 2023].”
“So I learned about this investigation after I was hired,” she continued. “So for people to think that, or to allege that this is [for] an agenda, or it was conducted to move people along, is false. And that timeline can show them. That timeline is indicative of that.”
Anderson was fired in early July for violating Title IX reporting policies following a Title IX investigation conducted by Kansas City-based law firm Husch Blackwell. The firm concluded that Anderson conducted his own investigation following an alleged domestic violence case involving a football player instead of properly reporting it. He also delayed the suspension of the player, the investigation found, Kevin Reynolds of The Salt Lake Tribune reported.
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Bovee, who was the interim athletic director at the time, was also fired for “violations of university policies related to the reporting of sexual and domestic violence.”
Since then, Anderson’s attorney, Tom Mars, has called the investigation a “sham.” He said Anderson followed every guidance.
Bovee has also contended that he reported the information “within 24 hours of hearing about it, as is required according to school policy.”
On Friday, Sabau stood by the investigation, Reynolds reported.
“Because of the findings in this investigation, actions had to take place,” she said. “And we’re going stand by those actions every single day, because it will make our culture better. It’ll make Utah State stronger.”
Sabau did not comment on Bovee’s specific grievances, however.
“Because there [are] current employment practices happening, their fair process has to play out. And I can’t comment on any of that,” she said.
The Utah State athletic director said she initially found out about the Title IX investigation after she was hired on Aug. 7, 2023, saying that the school’s general counsel was the one to tell her.
“I was not informed of the investigation during the interview process, or during my hiring,” she said. “It was a whirlwind when I came on campus.”
“I was pulled aside and told about the investigation shortly after arriving in Logan,” she continued. “For me, in all of my training within athletics, when you know that an investigation is happening, it’s hands off. Like that investigation happens independently. And it was by an outside firm. And I wasn’t kept up to date. I wasn’t informed. I just knew when the results and the findings were presented to the university, I would be informed of them. And that’s exactly how it happened.”
