Rich Rodriguez (official thread of last laughs)

[CleveBucks]

Didn't want to sign a WVU contract with a $4 mil buyout, but he just did the same thing in tsun. Guy is a hypocrite. Yeah, let's write a 3rd resignation letter a month after the fact. It's legal posturing, and it's making him look more and more pathetic.

 

[HailToMichigan]

Didn't want to sign a WVU contract with a $4 mil buyout, but he just did the same thing in tsun. Guy is a hypocrite. Yeah, let's write a 3rd resignation letter a month after the fact. It's legal posturing, and it's making him look more and more pathetic.

The Michigan contract is only a $4 million buyout if for some reason RR leaves before the '08 season. It goes down by half a million for every season he coaches.

 

[jwinslow]

The Michigan contract is only a $4 million buyout if for some reason RR leaves before the '08 season. It goes down by half a million for every season he coaches.

So he's against 4 million dollar buyouts, unless they are very short and lead into 3.5 million dollar buyouts. Got it.

 

[sandgk]

So he's against 4 million dollar buyouts, unless they are very short and lead into 3.5 million dollar buyouts. Got it.

[sarcasm]What wonders Brown is doing for his client. Really earning his keep isn't he?[/sarcasm]

Couldn't protect his client's interest before, really hasn't done so this time around.

No wonder Brown is in full bore smear mode, it is the only means left to safe face.

 

[BuckeyeBill]

If RR was having such a hard time with the Athletic Department at WVU, why on earth would he sign a contract extension with a $4 Million buyout? Why would he allow himself to be lured back with a sweetened contract offer in the first place when he had a good offer from Alabama in hand? Surely the WVU athletic department didn't suddenly become so unbearable to work with in that short time that it justified his breaking the contract.

No, it is fairly clear, RR got lured back for the money, and that is why he courted Alabama in the first place. But he didn't expect an even bigger fish to bite, certainly not so soon. And when it did, he jumped at the offer.

Personally, I don't think there is anything wrong with what he wants to do, I just think he should pony up the $4 Million. That is what he agreed to after all. What is distasteful is A), the way he has let this fight turn into a mud slinging contest and B) the low regard he holds for the school from which he graduated and allowed him to build his coaching career.

I won't go so far as to say he is classless. But he doesn't exactly exude it either. As I've said before, not what I expected for UM.

 

[Folanator]

A bit of topic but check out this thread on the WV boards. Not a flame war about WV vs. WeasleDick. It is a bunch of WV players posting about their experiences with RR and the WV football program.

WV Players speak

It actually is a great example of what CFB means and is very inspirational. Gives me a new respect for the 'neers love of the game. Good stuff.

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

College football: Saga between Rodriguez, West Virginia takes another twist

Saturday, January 26, 2008 5:34 AM

More than two weeks after he was sued over a $4 million buyout clause in his contract at West Virginia, Rich Rodriguez turned in a second resignation letter, saying university president Mike Garrison reneged on a deal to reduce and possibly eliminate that clause.
Jeffrey Wakefield, the school's attorney in the case, denied yesterday that such a promise was made.
"President Garrison made no agreement to reduce or eliminate the buyout clause," Wakefield said.
The letter, obtained by The Associated Press and bearing Rodriguez's name, is an indication of the tack his legal defense will take when he files a response to that lawsuit in U.S. District Court. The deadline is Feb. 4.

Continued.....

 

[LightningRod]

Charleston Gazette

...

"In over 33 years of practicing law, it has been my experience that when one side in a legal dispute wants to talk about everything but the legal merits of the case, it's a sure sign that they have no defense to the case,'' said Thomas Flaherty, who is representing the school, via a fax to the media. "WVU's position is based upon the contract between Richard Rodriguez and the University, as well as the law, and we look forward to presenting the case in court. There were absolutely no side agreements which changed the contract in any way."

...

 

[Steve19]

I guess it all rests on what RR can bring forward to support his claims.

Can some of you legal-types answer a few questions? When is discovery likely to be completed in this case and the facts made a bit clearer for the public? When is it likely to go to trial, if it does?

I am trying to get my mind wrapped around another question that is football-related. Is it likely to be a distraction for RR during spring training and possibly the football season?

 

[MaxBuck]

...I am trying to get my mind wrapped around another question that is football-related. Is it likely to be a distraction for RR during spring training and possibly the football season?

Wow, that would be awful.

 

[Buckeyeskickbuttocks]

I guess it all rests on what RR can bring forward to support his claims.

Can some of you legal-types answer a few questions? When is discovery likely to be completed in this case and the facts made a bit clearer for the public? When is it likely to go to trial, if it does?

I am trying to get my mind wrapped around another question that is football-related. Is it likely to be a distraction for RR during spring training and possibly the football season?

No idea when discovery may be completed. I've had cases where discovery is completed within the time frame afforded by the initial clerk's schedule, but then I've had cases (many more of this type, actually) where extensions are made to the schedule. If I had to "ball park" it for you, I'd guess "around a year" but this being a "high profile" case, it may be on a faster track.

The facts may never be made any more clear to the public. Discovery is not filed with the court, but instead exchanged between the parties. Some portions of the discovery will become part of the court file eventually as exhibits to summary judgment motions and the like.

I would seriously doubt that this goes to trial, but if it does, it'll probably be next year some time. After the close of discovery (it's about a year after filing, but frankly, I've never really looked that closely since these deadlines are virtually meaningless) there is a date for the filing of dispositive motions (ie Summary Judgment) which is maybe a month or so after discovery (and sometimes before discovery closes, depending on the court) and then, after all the response and reply times, another few months before the trial is scheduled.... which, of course, will ultimately be rescheduled, particularly if there are any time pressured criminal cases on the judge's docket that week.

I have not followed this case particularly closely, but it seems pretty "clear" for me, issue wise. Whatever is in the Contract is the agreement. I read something about "side deals" .... even if there are such things, they do not supersede the contract. While lawyers can always argue about what the language in an agreement is supposed to mean, Contract cases aren't really very interesting (Truth is, I love contracts, but it's really rather boring stuff....)

 

[LightningRod]

Keep in mind that the basic issue regarding the jurisdiction of the federal court will not be resolved for another few weeks. Since this case was filed, RR's lawyers have yet to file a responsive pleading so there is no telling what defenses and affirmative defenses might be raised by RR as well as counterclaims he might raise. RR's agent promised a bombshell when the answer to the complaint is filed. I also expect the case to get bogged down in motions. As discovery proceeds, both parties will most likely object to answering questions and/or producing documents for any number of reasons, the most common of which will be attorney/client privilege. WVU will no doubt file motions to suppress any and all information that bears on the presence of oral agreements. The court's criminal and civil docket also needs to be considered, especially if the case is remanded to state court. These judges handle criminal as well as civil dockets, and when in conflict, the criminal docket takes precedence mainly because of Constitutional guarantees of a speedy trial for criminal defendants. Absent a settlement, this case can easily drag on beyond this calendar year.

 

[tbonesizzle]

Can't win a big game?? Come on...it's not like they lost to Pitt or anything...er...uh...nevermind, good point.

 

[Folanator]

I have worked for some big banks and this is exactly why we kept the juristiction on our turf, and had the client waive all rights to a trial by jury. It keeps the possibility of a local trial, with a local judge, and a local jury hearing a case between a local guy vs that big bad bank from the North.

We also would never ever do business in places just like WV and Louisana (tort law=fucked up). It is not worth the downside. Locals will take care of locals, and if RR is put into this senerio he has problems no matter how strong his argument might be.

 

[sandgk]

Drew Sharp (Free Press Detroit) calls for both sides to reach settlement ...

concerns about sullying TSUN's image.

Believes TSUN can no longer hang on the sidelines and watch the mudslinging get worse, which it undoubtedly will do should Brown et al file their response with promised bombshell.

BY DREW SHARP
FREE PRESS COLUMNIST
Will common sense ever prevail in the ongoing rancor between Rich Rodriguez and West Virginia?
Rarely does a winner ever emerge in a legal dispute where ego collides with arrogance. Both sides should bury the pettiness and immediately find a tolerable compromise before this lawsuit goes to trial. All that would do is make this mess uglier and potentially cause more damage to the careers and credibility of those directly involved.
....
t's time for Michigan to remove itself from the sidelines and implore its new football coach to reach an accord with his former employers. University president Mary Sue Coleman and athletic director Bill Martin are grossly mistaken if they believe they're merely innocent bystanders in a fractured family feud.
It won't help the hallowed Michigan image if a trial unearths testimony and documentation that paints Rodriguez as a soulless mercenary whose loyalties extend only as far as his next contract.
Nobody knows how far a jilted suitor will push in its quest for vengeance. It's not worth it for Michigan to sit idly by and allow West Virginia to gratuitously sully its new coach's character over $4 million, his buyout penalty.
You never know what could emerge in an acidic courtroom fight. If you're Michigan, why risk your new coach's reputation before he has had the opportunity to invoke the institutional change that has been long overdue with this football program?
Get a deal. Sign a check. Move on.
....
Rodriguez alleges the university breached the tenets of a term agreement the parties reached 13 months earlier, after Rodriguez almost bolted for a $12-million deal at Alabama. He also insisted he had verbal assurances from the incoming university president that the $4-million buyout would be diminished or obliterated altogether.
The university denies such discussions took place.
But it begs the question: How can Rodriguez express displeasure over having such a stiff buyout in his West Virginia deal, yet have no issue with a similar buyout provision in his Michigan contract? (His letter of intent with Michigan calls for him to pay U-M $4 million if he leaves in the first year of his contract; the buyout decreases by $500,000 each subsequent year he remains.)
Rodriguez also wrote that he felt pressured to formally sign the contract last August despite his misgivings about the $4-million buyout. He wrote that the university misled him into believing it was the boosters who adamantly insisted on the buyout. Rodriguez wrote that he learned later the boosters had nothing to do with the buyout language.
But how can he argue duress when it took him nine months to sign the contract? If there were discrepancies, couldn't he have figured those out in that amount of time?
...
Michigan might seek distance from this embarrassing charade, because it doesn't want to see how ugly things could get when Rodriguez one day leaves Michigan.