Off-field drama steals attention as Utah State preps for game against New Mexico


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LOGAN — Utah State plays football this week, but you'd be excused if you didn't know; it's far from the main story surrounding the program.

News broke last week that former Utah State player Patrick Maddox has sued head coach Blake Anderson and the university. Maddox claimed he suffered retaliation from coaches and teammates after he distributed a recording of a team meeting that "highlighted the problematic manner in which USU handles conversations about sexual harassment and assault," according to court documents.

The lawsuit comes nearly a year after recordings of an Aug. 2021 team meeting were released to the public, which led to the Utah State police chief's resignation and an issued apology from Anderson. The audio, according to the lawsuit, included derogatory comments about sexual assault victims.

To add to that, on Tuesday, athletic director John Hartwell announced his resignation from his position, citing in a statement that it was time to move back to the south near his family in Arkansas. Deputy athletics director Jerry Bovee has since been named the interim athletic director.

And yet, the Aggies have a game to play this weekend. New Mexico comes to town on Saturday, and Utah State has plenty of motivation to move closer to bowl eligibility by defeating a divisional opponent. But the off-field issues, obviously, can't be ignored.

"We've dealt with our fair share of things off the field through the course of my time as a head coach. Not sure that I've seen any more (controversy) than what we're dealing with now," Anderson said on Monday. "Just trying to keep focused on the kids and give them my very best and make sure we give them every chance to get better.

"But, yeah, it's hard to say we've seen anything any heavier or any worse than what we're dealing with right now."

That drama was amplified when Hartwell announced his resignation. Anderson said in a radio interview this week that he was taken "by surprise" that Hartwell chose to resign.

"We're dealing with a tremendous amount of distractions," he added. "They're coming from all sides."

As of this writing, there is no evidence to suggest that Hartwell's resignation was related to the lawsuit.

"There's a lot of things that are completely unrelated that eventually time will show some things don't have anything to do with the others," Anderson said. "There were just some personal things, I think, John was dealing with on his own that he decided to (leave)."

Hartwell said that after 25 years in college athletics, "my wife and I have agreed that our family, including Heather's aging parents in Arkansas, need to be our No. 1 priority. We need to be there for them and for our beautiful daughters. This is the time."

Other issues, however, have come to light since Hartwell's resignation.

The Salt Lake Tribune reported on Thursday it received a letter sent from an "anonymous group" to Utah State administration in August that listed several issues it had with Utah State athletics. The letter brought issue to a video from 2019 where Hartwell repeated part of a vulgar joke while on a phone conversation with a donor.

Hartwell apologized for the video in a statement.

"In Dec. 2019 at our bowl game in Frisco, Texas, in a one-on-one phone conversation with a Utah State donor, I repeated a portion of a joke that he told me," Hartwell said. "Repeating his words, which were vulgar and foul, was my mistake. ... One year later in Dec. 2020 when I first learned of the video, I went that same day to USU President Noelle Cockett's house and showed her the video. When she saw it, she told me there wasn't anything on that video that concerned her and to not worry about it."

It's worth noting, however, that Hartwell's resignation is not the first sudden leadership change at the university this year. In August, vice president of student affairs James Morales was fired by university president Noelle Cockett after 13 years in his position.

Regardless of the circumstances of Hartwell's departure, the issues at hand remain. Bovee takes charge of the department as a national search for a new athletic director begins, and Anderson will try to navigate the final four games of the regular season amid the controversy.

The suit filed by Maddox, who is still enrolled at Utah State and is a member of the Ridgeline High football staff, said Anderson told the team Maddox "made a mistake" by leaking the audio, and players could punish him however they "saw fit," among other claims.

"While I cannot comment on the specific allegations, I will vigorously defend myself and our university against false statements," Anderson responded on Twitter.

Current team members also publicly declared their support for the head coach.

"I have only known coach A for a short amount of time, but let me tell you, he is one of the most genuine, good-hearted people I have ever met," graduate receiver Brian Cobbs tweeted. "Not many like him out there! We got you."

"You'd be hard-pressed to find a better man than our coach," offensive lineman Wade Meacham tweeted. "Love you coach A!"

The biggest question for Utah State on Saturday is whether the team can avoid a deflated effort amid the chaos.

The Aggies will be better off personnel-wise than it was two weeks ago at Wyoming, at least. Starting quarterback Cooper Legas, who missed a game due to a concussion, practiced on Tuesday and is expected to play on Saturday, according to Anderson. Defensive end Byron Vaughns will also return.

The significance of Saturday's game, though, pales in comparison to the news that precedes it.

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