It's been three years, but Arkansas State might soon be in the market for a new football coach again.
According to a report from footballscoop.com, a website that tracks coaching news, Red Wolves Coach Blake Anderson met with Baylor officials Monday. Though it did not report an offer had been made, the website said the two sides are "negotiating toward a contract."
Baylor is looking for a new coach after it fired Art Briles this summer following complaints regarding how the university handled complaints of sexual assault.
Anderson did not respond to messages seeking comment Monday night, nor did ASU Athletic Director Terry Mohajir. Anderson told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette on Sunday that he had not yet been contacted about any coaching vacancies, but he did not rule out considering the right opportunity.
"If our name is out there, then we're probably winning enough games," he said. "If something comes up, that if our family, my wife and our staff and everybody needs to look at, we will."
Anderson, hired in December 2013 to be ASU's fifth coach in five consecutive seasons, is 23-15 in three seasons. He led ASU to a share of the Sun Belt Conference title this season and an outright title last season.
If he's hired by Baylor, he would owe ASU a $2 million buyout and also be the fourth coach since 2011 to leave ASU for a school with which he has a connection.
Hugh Freeze left ASU for Ole Miss, where he had previously been an assistant, in 2011; Gus Malzahn left for Auburn, where he had previously been an assistant, in 2012; and Bryan Harsin left for Boise State, where he had been a player and an assistant, in 2013.
Anderson, from Hubbard, Texas, started his playing career at Baylor before transferring to Sam Houston State.
Anderson was away from campus Monday and today recruiting, and ASU was planning a news conference to discuss its upcoming Cure Bowl game against Central Florida, but a date and time had not been decided.
Sports on 12/06/2016