We are now into July as the temperatures will verify this week. I know I’m not alone but it shouldn’t be allowed for a location to have both -40 and 90+. I’m not sure who to complain to about this…
Anyway, July means football camps and pre-season rankings as conferences hold their media days. Here are a few thoughts from me on this past week.
•Utah State Football
You know that emoji that you use that just has the teeth showing? The one that mimics when you break a lamp or run over something you didn’t mean to. That one was on full display for the Aggies this past week as they released a statement regarding soon to be terminated head coach Blake Anderson. It said that Anderson was being placed on administrative leave with the intent to terminate due to “actions taken in spring 2023.” More specifically the statement refers to the “timely disclosure of sexual misconduct, including domestic violence and prohibit employees from investigating disclosures of sexual misconduct themselves.”
Wow, there’s a lot to consider there. Especially when we as the public have no idea of specifics.
So, I’m not going to speculate on any of that. Also mentioned in this situation is Jerry Bovee, who’s title is longer than me explaining how long his title is, as well as Austin Albrecht, who’s title is also too long. Since this news came out last week, both Anderson and Bovee have made their intentions known to fight this termination. Tom Mars, attorney for Anderson told ESPN that USU faces an “uphill battle” to fire Anderson for cause.
Again, I’ll just keep things simple here. None of this is what a college football fan wants to be reading as their team preps for their season to start next month. What will happen and how it might affect the Aggies on the field? It is certainly worth keeping in mind as five of their first six games include trips to USC, Temple and Boise and home games against Utah and a now improved UNLV program. Things could get out of hand quickly in the win/loss column by mid October. Oh, and Mountain West Media Days is going on this week in Las Vegas. What will the writers have to ask about this whole thing. Stay tuned.
• SVHS Football
As I started doing some pre-season work on items for coverage coming up this fall, the Braves open up their season against a trio of Idaho teams as they play the Shelley Russets, the Preston Indians and the Sugar-Salem Diggers. Here are a few little tidbits that may not be interesting at all.
-The Braves have never defeated Shelley in Afton. The two teams have played five times between 2003 and 2023. The Russets lead that series 3-2 with Star Valley winning the last two meetings. However, one of those was at Albertson’s Stadium in Boise and the other was in Shelley last season. So, this fall at the home opener the team has a chance to do something they haven’t done before.
-Coach McKay Young has 74 wins in eight seasons as head coach. That’s an average of 9.25 per season. With nine wins this season, he would tie Jerry Hart (’69-’81) for second on the all-time list and with ten would tie Robert Linford (’88-’98) for the all-time lead. More than that puts him on top of the list for a program that started playing in 1928.
