Blake Anderson
Blake Anderson went 75–60 as a head coach, 2014–2026, at Arkansas State, Utah State and Southern Miss. Wikipedia’s season articles record one season differently (2026, 1–4); by them his record is 75–59. Share
- Record
- 75–60 career
- Seasons
- 12
- Schools
- 3
- Final AP top 10
- 0 seasons
- Born
- Mar 24, 1969
- Alma mater
- Sam Houston 1992
- Best season
- 2021 11–3, No. 24
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Arkansas State | 7–6 | T–4th | GoDaddy Bowl L | ||
| 2015 | Arkansas State | 9–4 | 1st | New Orleans Bowl L | ||
| 2016 | Arkansas State | 8–5 | T–1st | Cure Bowl W | ||
| 2017 | Arkansas State | 7–5 | 3rd | Camellia Bowl L | ||
| 2018 | Arkansas State | 8–5 | T–1st (West) | Arizona Bowl L | ||
| 2019 | Arkansas State | 8–5 | 2nd (West) | Camellia Bowl W | ||
| 2020 | Arkansas State | 4–7 | T–3rd (West) | |||
| 2021 | Utah State | 11–3 | T–1st (Mountain) | LA Bowl W | 24 | |
| 2022 | Utah State | 6–7 | T–3rd (Mountain) | First Responder Bowl L | ||
| 2023 | Utah State | 6–7 | T–6th | Famous Idaho Potato Bowl L | ||
| 2024: not a college head coach | ||||||
| 2025 | Southern Miss bowl game | 0–1 | New Orleans Bowl L | |||
| 2026 | Southern Miss | 1–5 (Wikipedia: 1–4) | ||||
Each season links to the team’s season page; bowls and playoff games link to the game. Conference finishes from the Wikipedia article’s record table.
How his teams did
| Kind of game | Games | Record | Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Against ranked teams | 10 | 2–8 | 20% |
| Against top-10 teams | 4 | 0–4 | 0% |
| Against rivals | 6 | 0–6 | 0% |
| Conference games | 82 | 53–29 | 65% |
| Bowls and playoffs | 10 | 3–7 | 30% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 40 | 21–19 | 53% |
| At home | 61 | 41–20 | 67% |
| On the road | 65 | 32–33 | 49% |
| At neutral sites | 9 | 2–7 | 22% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 85 | 61–24 | 72% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 50 | 14–36 | 28% |
His own 135 games on file, 2014–2026, as played (vacated wins counted, ties as half a win). Ranks are the AP poll going into the game; rivals are the ones either program’s Wikipedia article names; favorite and underdog by our own Elo rating, which reads only scores.
Against other head coaches
| Coach | Record | Their schools | Games | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Doug Martin 2014–2021 | 5–0 | New Mexico State | 5 | |
| Matt Viator 2016–2020 | 5–0 | UL Monroe | 5 | |
| Joey Jones 2014–2017 | 3–1 | South Alabama | 4 | |
| Mark Hudspeth 2014–2017 | 2–2 | Louisiana | 4 | |
| Shawn Elliott 2018–2023 | 2–2 | Georgia State | 4 | |
| Trent Miles 2014–2016 | 3–0 | Georgia State | 3 | |
| Danny Gonzales 2021–2023 | 3–0 | New Mexico | 3 | |
| Jamey Chadwell 2017–2020 | 2–1 | Coastal Carolina | 3 | |
| Jay Norvell 2018–2023 | 2–1 | Nevada, Colorado State | 3 | |
| Brent Brennan 2021–2023 | 2–1 | San José State | 3 |
Blake Anderson’s record against the head coaches he met three or more times, from the games on file, as played.
Most-faced opponents
| Opponent | Games | Record |
|---|---|---|
| UL Monroeseries | 7 | 7–0 |
| Texas Stateseries | 7 | 5–2 |
| Georgia Stateseries | 7 | 5–2 |
| South Alabamaseries | 7 | 4–3 |
| Louisianaseries | 7 | 2–5 |
| New Mexico Stateseries | 5 | 5–0 |
| Troyseries | 5 | 2–3 |
| Georgia Southernseries | 4 | 3–1 |
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Eastern New Mexico | Graduate assistant | |
| 1993 | Eastern New Mexico | Wide receivers coach | |
| 1994 | Howard Payne | Wide receivers coach | |
| 1995–97 | Trinity Valley | Quarterbacks, wide receivers and defensive backs coach and recruiting coordinator | |
| 1998 | Trinity Valley | Offensive coordinator | |
| 1999–2000 | New Mexico | Running backs coach | |
| 2001 | New Mexico | Wide receivers coach | |
| 2002–04 | Middle Tennessee | Co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach | |
| 2007 | Louisiana–Lafayette | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| 2008–09 | Southern Miss | Running game coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| 2010–11 | Southern Miss | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| 2012–13 | North Carolina | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| 2014–20 | Arkansas State | Head coach | |
| 2021–23 | Utah State | Head coach | |
| 2025 | Southern Miss | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| 2025 | Southern Miss | Head coach | |
| 2026–present | Southern Miss | Head coach |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included. Head-coaching seasons the infobox leaves out come from our records.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- Rocky LongNew Mexico
- Andy McCollumMiddle Tennessee
- Rickey BustleLouisiana
- Larry FedoraSouthern Miss, North Carolina
- Charles HuffSouthern Miss
Assistants who became head coaches
- Keith HeckendorfNorth Carolina
- Trooper TaylorDuke
- Walt BellMassachusetts
- David DugganCologne Centurions
Worked under (5)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rocky Long | New Mexico | 1999–2001 | 1999–2000: running backs coach; 2001: wide receivers coach | |
| Andy McCollum | Middle Tennessee | 2002–04 | Co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach | |
| Rickey Bustle | Louisiana | 2007 | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Larry Fedora | Southern Miss | 2008–11 | 2008–09: running game coordinator and quarterbacks coach; 2010–11: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Larry Fedora | North Carolina | 2012–13 | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Charles Huff | Southern Miss | 2025 | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach |
Coached under him, later head coaches (4)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Keith Heckendorf | Arkansas State, 2014: tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator; 2019–20: assistant head coach, offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | North Carolina | |
| Trooper Taylor | Arkansas State, 2014–18: assistant head coach and cornerbacks coach | Duke | |
| Walt Bell | Arkansas State, 2014–15: assistant head coach, offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | Massachusetts | |
| David Duggan | Arkansas State, 2019–20: defensive coordinator | Cologne Centurions |
Other assistants under him (11)
| Coach | With him | |
|---|---|---|
| Anthony Tucker | Arkansas State, 2014–15: running backs coach; Utah State, 2021–22: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Glen Elarbee | Arkansas State, 2014–15: co-offensive coordinator | |
| Joe Cauthen | Arkansas State, 2014–18: defensive coordinator; Utah State, 2023: defensive coordinator | |
| Allen Rudolph | Arkansas State, 2016–18: offensive line coach | |
| Buster Faulkner | Arkansas State, 2016: offensive coordinator; 2017–18: offensive coordinator and tight ends coach | |
| Ed Pinkham | Arkansas State, 2019: interim defensive line; 2020: defensive passing game coordinator | |
| Nick Paremski | Arkansas State, 2020: defensive coordinator | |
| Ephraim Banda | Utah State, 2021–22: defensive coordinator and safeties coach | |
| Kyle Cefalo | Utah State, 2023: offensive coordinator; Southern Miss, 2026: offensive coordinator | |
| Jason Semore | Southern Miss, 2025: defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | |
| Joe Bolden | Southern Miss, 2025: special teams coach; 2026: defensive coordinator and linebackers coach |
From coaches’ Wikipedia infoboxes (CC BY-SA) and each season’s article for its coordinators: an assistant’s seasons at a school count under its head coach in our records; jobs in the NFL and elsewhere, under the head coach whose own article lists the job that year. Names without a page here link to their Wikipedia articles.
Pay
| Year | School | Job | Contract pay | State payroll | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Utah State | head coach in 2023 | $126,725 | ||
| 2023 | Utah State | head coach | $757,539 | ||
| 2022 | Utah State | head coach | $713,450 | ||
| 2021 | Utah State | head coach | $1,035,668 | ||
| 2017 | Arkansas State | head coachbonuses up to $185,000; $50,000 in bonuses paid; buyout $500,000 | $750,000 USA Today | ||
| 2016 | Arkansas State | head coachbonuses up to $235,000; $50,000 in bonuses paid | $700,000 USA Today | ||
| 2015 | Arkansas State | head coachbonuses up to $235,000; $25,000 in bonuses paid | $700,000 USA Today | ||
| 2014 | Arkansas State | head coachbonuses up to $235,000 | $700,000 USA Today |
USA Today’s coaches salary database (2014–17, from public-records requests to the schools; Rachel Ehlers’ copy): the season’s contract pay, school pay plus outside money, before bonuses.
Transparent Utah: wages and incentive awards paid in the fiscal year from July to June, shown against the season inside it; benefits left out.
Contract pay and the state payroll differ by design: one is the season’s contract, the other what the state paid in a calendar or fiscal year, so a December hire’s short first year, bonuses and camp money paid as special payments, and pay that ran on after he left all show in the payroll.
Pay of public employees in their public job only: head coaches, and assistants in the seasons our records name them a coordinator, at public universities.
How he coached
Anderson’s teams went for it on 25% of fourth downs and on 43% of those where the model said go for it, passed on 50% of plays and took 22.6 seconds a play, 2014–2026.
| Season | School | Went for it on fourth | When the model said go | Pass rate | Seconds a play | EPA a play | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 13 g | Arkansas State | 36 of 120 30% | 48% | 47% | 21.5 | +0.05 | |
| 2015 13 g | Arkansas State | 19 of 107 18% | 29% | 40% | 23.9 | +0.02 | |
| 2016 13 g | Arkansas State | 27 of 127 21% | 36% | 47% | 23.6 | −0.07 | |
| 2017 12 g | Arkansas State | 15 of 91 16% | 34% | 56% | 20.8 | +0.02 | |
| 2018 13 g | Arkansas State | 30 of 112 27% | 38% | 51% | 23.3 | +0.05 | |
| 2019 13 g | Arkansas State | 23 of 108 21% | 47% | 55% | 22.6 | +0.06 | |
| 2020 11 g | Arkansas State | 30 of 89 34% | 60% | 58% | 21.6 | +0.10 | |
| 2021 14 g | Utah State | 31 of 111 28% | 43% | 51% | 22.3 | +0.08 | |
| 2022 12 g | Utah State | 29 of 112 26% | 49% | 45% | 23.3 | −0.09 | |
| 2023 12 g | Utah State | 29 of 102 28% | 40% | 52% | 22.6 | +0.07 | |
| 2026 6 g | Southern Miss | 14 of 48 29% | 44% | 55% | 22.2 | +0.07 | |
| All 132 g | 283 of 1127 25% | 43% | 50% | 22.6 | +0.03 |
His seasons as a head coach from 2004 on, from ESPN’s play by play: fourth downs where he went for it out of every fourth-down decision; how often he went when SportsDataverse’s fourth-down model said going for it was the better call; the share of his offense’s plays that were passes; seconds of game clock per offensive play (lower is faster); and expected points added per offensive play (EPA, a measure of how much each play moved the offense toward points). The season in progress counts its games so far. SportsDataverse’s coach tendencies, from ESPN’s play by play; the EPA and the fourth-down model are SportsDataverse’s.