Utah State players have opted out of season finale due to alleged comments made by the school’s president

Utah State’s season finale against Colorado State was canceled as Aggie players opted out in protest of comments allegedly made by USU president Noelle Crockett. 

Utah State’s 2020 campaign was already a great disappointment with a 1-5 record. It’ll end under worse conditions than just a losing record.

Following a players-only meeting on Friday, the Aggies decided not to play their final game against Colorado State “due to ongoing inequality and prejudicial issues between the players, coaches and the USU administration.”

The players delivered their statement to Stadium, raising questions about university leadership’s handling of their head coaching search and other concerning instances.

Utah State players claim USU’s president made discriminatory statements about interim head coach Frank Maile

The inciting incident for Friday’s cancelation happened on Tuesday when the USU Football Leadership Council held a Zoom meeting with university president Noelle Cockett and athletic director John Hartwell. The players expressed their support for interim head coach Frank Maile getting the permanent job but the administrators pushed back.

“In response to our comments, their primary concern was his religious and cultural background,” the players alleged in their statement. “Players, stating their diverse faiths and backgrounds, then jumped to Coach Frank Maile’s defense in treating everyone with love, equality, and fairness.”

Maile, who is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, played for Utah State from 2004 to 2007 and has spent a decade of his coaching career with the Aggies, excepting a two-year stint with Vanderbilt.

The comments about Maile weren’t the only concerns raised by Utah State’s players. They also brought up an incident last year when “our head equipment manager used a racial slur against one of our African-American teammates.” According to the players, the administration continued to employ the equipment manager despite pressure to investigate.

According to multiple reports, Utah State is on track to hire Blake Anderson, who recently stepped down from his post at Arkansas State. In their statement, the players made it clear they were not protesting the apparent hiring of Anderson, rather “highlighting the ongoing problems of inequality and want to create a better future for the community of Logan and Utah State University.”