Utah State players opt out of season finale, alleging bias against coach Maile

Utah State players have opted out of the season to protest school administrators who cited interim head coach Frank Maile's religious and cultural background as a concern about potentially hiring him full time.

The Aggies were supposed to face Colorado State in their final game. Maile, who took over after Gary Andersen was fired in November, belongs to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

"The Utah State football players have decided to opt out of our game against Colorado State due to ongoing inequality and prejudicial issues between the players, coaches, and the USU administration," the players wrote in a statement Friday to Stadium's Brett McMurphy. The statement continued:

On Tuesday, December 8th, the Utah State University Football Leadership Council held a zoom meeting with Noelle Cockett, President of USU, and John Hartwell, the Athletic Director. The purpose of the meeting was to have a say in the search for our new head coach. During the meeting, we voiced our support for Interim Head Coach Frank Maile. In response to our comments, their primary concern was his religious and cultural background. Players, stating their diverse faiths and backgrounds, then jumped to Coach Frank Maile’s defense in treating everyone with love, equality, and fairness.

Utah State is reportedly set to hire Blake Anderson from Arkansas State, though it hasn't announced the move yet. Maile began his coaching career at Utah State and has spent 10 of 12 seasons with the program.

"It is not the first time issues of repeated discrimination have happened," the players added. "In December 2019, our head equipment manager used a racial slur against one of our African American teammates. After disregarding the incident, pressure resurfaced to investigate in the summer of 2020. After the investigation, the administration concluded he would continue to be employed.

"We want our message to be clear that this has nothing to do with the hiring of coach Blake Anderson, the recently named head coach of the program. We are sure he is an excellent coach; we look forward to meeting him and his staff. We are highlighting the ongoing problems of inequality and want to create a better future for the community of Logan and Utah State University."

Utah State will finish the 2020 season with a 1-5 record.