Blake Anderson
Blake Anderson, head football coach at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, has resigned to accept the same position with another NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision program.
Assistant Head Coach and Offensive Coordinator Keith Heckendorf has been named interim head coach, and a national search to fill the head football coach position will begin immediately.
The Associated Press reported that Anderson is being hired by Utah State University in Logan, Utah. Their source spoke on the condition of anonymity because the agreement is being finalized and there has not been an official announcement.
Utah State fired coach Gary Andersen after an 0-3 start to this season. He was in his second year of his second stint there.
A-State’s Anderson, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported in May, had an annual salary of $825,000.
In his seven years leading the Red Wolves football team, Anderson won 51 games and consecutive Sun Belt titles in 2015 and 2016. The school said he competed for another in 2017 in A-State’s regular-season finale that was a de facto championship game.
The 51 wins were tied for the 41st most in the country during Anderson’s tenure. He also posted 38 Sun Belt Conference wins, the second most ever by any of the conference’s all-time head coaches, the school said.
In addition, three of his players were named the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year four times.
A-State Vice Chancellor for Intercollegiate Athletics Terry Mohajir said in a news release, “We appreciate Coach Anderson’s contributions to our program. He is the only head coach in our FBS history to win two conference championships, and he played for a third while also leading us to six bowl games. We wish him the best moving forward.”
Chancellor Kelly Damphousse added, “He is leaving our football program better than he found it.”
They, along with System President Charles Welch, will lead the search for Anderson’s replacement.
Mohajir said, “We believe we have an attractive program and that we’ll have a great pool of candidates. We look forward to finding our next head coach to continue advancing our program and building our emerging brand.”
(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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