facebook-pixel

Plane heads from Logan to Jonesboro, Ark., — perhaps to pick up Utah State’s new football coach?

Arkansas State head coach Blake Anderson is pictured in the first half during an NCAA college football bowl game against Nevada, in Tucson, Ariz. He is expected to be named Utah State's next head football coach. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri, File)

Utah State has remained mum on whether it will be hiring Blake Anderson as its next football coach. But change is in the air.

A private plane departed Logan just before noon Friday bound for Jonesboro, Ark. That just happens to be the site of Arkansas State, where Anderson has been the head coach since 2014.

Reports have surfaced that the Aggies hired Anderson to replace Gary Andersen, who was dismissed from USU three games into the season. ASU on Thursday confirmed its coach was leaving “to accept the same position at another FBS program.”

Though that program was unnamed in the release, it is increasingly clear it is USU. Both CBS Sports Network and ESPN have said sources have confirmed the hire to them. Vox reporter Steven N. Godfrey posted on social media that Anderson and representatives from USU met face-to-face earlier this week.

Then there’s the plane. The Cessna is registered to Cache Valley Electric, which is owned by USU booster Jim Laub.

Anderson has a 51-37 record with the Red Wolves — his first gig as head coach — and won two Sun Belt championships and two bowl games. George Stoia, an ASU beat writer, recently posted on Twitter a quote from Anderson from an August interview that indicated the coach was looking for a change of scenery after the death of his wife, Wendy, from cancer in August 2019.