UM/RichRod agree to pay WVA $4m

[Glenn]

West Virginia says Rodriguez agrees to pay buyout
Associated Press
Updated: July 9, 2008, 9:16 AM ET

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- Former West Virginia football coach Rich Rodriguez agreed to pay a $4 million buyout clause and settle a lawsuit that the university filed after he broke his contract in December.

The tentative agreement, which university attorney Tom Flaherty expects will be approved by the WVU Board of Governors later Wednesday, would end a case that had been set for trial this fall. It also may end a bitter public feud.

"It's a case that should have settled a long time ago and could have settled a long time ago. It's in the best interest of everyone to resolve it," Flaherty said.

A call to Ohio attorney Marv Robon, representing Rodriguez, was not immediately returned.

Rodriguez quit the Mountaineers in December for the head coaching job at Michigan, only a year after extending his contract with WVU. He had argued that WVU broke the contract first by failing to honor certain promises -- a charge WVU denied.

Flaherty said he would reveal additional details about the settlement, including the period for repayment, after the deal is approved by the board. However, he said the payment would not be made in a lump sum.

The settlement was reached on what had been a key deadline in the case. As part of the discovery process, a judge had given Rodriguez until the end of Tuesday to reveal whether the University of Michigan or anyone else had agreed to pay WVU on his behalf.

Flaherty said a document was produced, but he could not immediately divulge its contents.

Adding pressure to Rodriguez was a lawsuit WVU filed in a Michigan court last week, asking a judge to order Michigan athletic director Bill Martin and President Mary Sue Coleman to testify in depositions. A hearing on that request had been set for Wednesday afternoon.

WVU also recently got an Ohio court to issue a subpoena for testimony and records from Mike Wilcox, Rodriguez's financial adviser.

The Rodriguez camp approached the university with a "significant and serious offer" within the past few days, and WVU responded with a counterproposal Tuesday, Flaherty said. That set off a series of meetings with a court-appointed mediator, Frank Fragale.

"Mike Garrison and the people at Stewart Hall worked tirelessly -- under the very, very difficult circumstances that he's in -- to get this done," Flaherty said. "They also, in my opinion, did everything they could to keep Mr. Rodriguez here."

Garrison is stepping down as WVU's president Sept. 1 over an unrelated scandal involving a master's degree the university wrongly awarded to the governor's daughter last fall.

The $4 million liquidated damages clause was suggested by an attorney on the WVU Board of Governors in December 2006, after Rodriguez turned down an offer from Alabama.

It was double the amount of the previous contract, but a number attorney Steve Farmer said he believed would protect WVU from lost marketing, merchandising and other opportunities if Rodriguez left early.

Though Rodriguez initially balked, he ultimately signed a contract with that figure in August 2007. He then resigned Dec. 16, taking recruits and assistant coaches with him, and leaving the Mountaineers just before the Fiesta Bowl game against Oklahoma. Bill Stewart replaced Rodriguez after a 48-28 victory over the Sooners.

Stewart has a five-year contract worth $800,000 a year, plus incentives. The base salary totals $4 million, the same amount WVU aimed to recover with its lawsuit.

Rodriguez testified recently in a deposition that he signed his contract under pressure from board members and Gov. Joe Manchin. He argues that WVU failed to honor some of his demands and Garrison assured him the buyout clause would be reduced or eliminated if he were to resign -- a promise Garrison denies making.

Rodriguez also testified that while he considered the amount "excessive" and "unfair," he acquiesced when he was told a major WVU donor had insisted on it.

He has agreed to a similar $4 million damages clause at Michigan.

bukdow incoming in 3...2...1...

[Wizzle]

It's about time. It will be nice to have this story go away.

[FillyCheezeSteak]

I wonder why it took so long for an alumnus to step up and offer to pay the $4 million? I think it was almost inevitable that the money would be taken care of by those with money, but it definitely is nice to have the whole thing over with.

[Wizzle]

“We are tremendously pleased to have been able to hire Rich Rodriguez as head coach of the University of Michigan football team. With his enthusiasm, integrity, and creative strategies he has already begun to make his mark on the program, and we are looking forward with great excitement to the coming season. To help Rich focus on the challenges ahead, we have worked with him to resolve the dispute between him and West Virginia University over the terms of his buyout.

“Although he continues to disagree with the validity of the terms, Rich and the rest of us at Michigan felt that it would be best to get this distracting issue behind us. Accordingly, Rich has agreed to pay $1.5 million out of his own pocket in three annual payments of $500,000 beginning in January, 2010. U-M Athletics will contribute $2.5 million in a single payment made by the end of July, 2008, for the total of $4 million that WVU sought. Separately, Athletics has agreed to pay Rich’s attorney fees. A financially self-sustaining unit at UM, Athletics will cover all payments from its reserve funds, which are annual operational surpluses from such sources as sponsorships, licenses, and media rights payments.

“This situation is now resolved, and we are ready to move onward to a new era of Michigan football."

[bukdow]

bukdow incoming in 3...2...1...

DickRod and his hillbilly-hooker wife are certainly nothing to write home about in regards to character and integrity, but good Lord, WVU is just chock full of greasy, trisomy-X`ed scum-balls.

If DickRod can stay off the meth and remember that UM is an actual university which requires a semblance of academic achievement from its players, he may actually find he is better off being away from the cess-pool known as WVU.

[Timone]

DickRod and his hillbilly-hooker wife are certainly nothing to write home about in regards to character and integrity, but good Lord, WVU is just chock full of greasy, trisomy-X`ed scum-balls.

If DickRod can stay off the meth and remember that UM is an actual university which requires a semblance of academic achievement from its players, he may actually find he is better off being away from the cess-pool known as WVU.

???

So you're saying that UM is actually the lesser of two evils?

Is West Virginia at least better than Memphis?

[bukdow]

???

So you're saying that UM is actually the lesser of two evils?

Is West Virginia at least better than Memphis?

UM is far and away a superior institution in comparison to WVU. Athletically, culturally and academically. The whole state of WV is culturally worthless. During the democratic primary, I heard on NPR that only 18% of West Virginians have a college degree, whereas 25% do not have a high school diploma.

Memphis and WVU are equally disatrous as universities. Memphis is thug-central and WVU is hillbilly/redneck-central. Two demographics this country would be better of without.

[CindyKate]

What is the percentage that have two degrees?

[Zekyl]

It doesn't even matter CK. They wouldn't be from a credible university anyway.