Lane Kiffin bolts Knoxville for USC; Can Mike Leach beat Texas Tech's sovereign immunity defense?
January 13, 2010
Few well-wishers in Knoxville, but a kindly low dollar amount of liquidated damages makes leaving easier
In this era of message boards for college football talk, you can bet the University of Tennessee message board was at peak capacity last night as the news came in that first year Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin was leaving Knoxville to take the vacant USC job. We took a quick look at that board and there were over 17,000 fans using it during the evening. One of the more memorable messages was "this is the most classless unethical stunt in my lifetime." But this is a sports law blog; we will skip the hyperbole and focus on Lane Kiffin's contract with Tennessee. Surprisingly enough there was not a big buyout provision that Kiffin had to adhere to. Two paragraphs should be examined: first Article VII, which says Kiffin must notify the athletic director immediately regarding interest in other employment from another college or pro football team; second, Article XVII refers to liquidated damages in case of the coach's early departure to another team. In this case, for leaving in 2010 Kiffin must pay liquidated damages in the amount of $800,000., which is not a very large sum in this day and age.
In depth reporting on Kiffin's move, including expected coaching staff changes and happy quotes from USC players and AD:
http://sports.espn.go.com/los-angeles/ncf/news/story?id=4820737
Sizing Kiffin up, roughly:
http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/blog/dr_saturday/post/One-year-in-Lane-Kiffin-ditches-Tennessee-for-o;_ylt=AoiMJZGnS_Tttoo3CoRaqPo5nYcB?urn=ncaaf,213265
Courtesy of USA Today, Lane Kiffin's contract:
http://i.usatoday.net/sports/graphics/2009/coaches-contracts/pdf/kiffin_tennessee.pdf
Attorney/agent Gary Uberstine who represents both Pete Carroll and Lane Kiffin has truly been busy over the last few days.
Gary Uberstine
Sovereign Immunity Defense
Mike Leach is a brilliant offensive mind when it comes to football and is an attorney to boot, but can he pick apart Texas Tech's sovereign immunity defense? Leach and his lawyers will try.
http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/news?slug=ap-leachfired&prov=ap&type=l
Few well-wishers in Knoxville, but a kindly low dollar amount of liquidated damages makes leaving easier
In this era of message boards for college football talk, you can bet the University of Tennessee message board was at peak capacity last night as the news came in that first year Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin was leaving Knoxville to take the vacant USC job. We took a quick look at that board and there were over 17,000 fans using it during the evening. One of the more memorable messages was "this is the most classless unethical stunt in my lifetime." But this is a sports law blog; we will skip the hyperbole and focus on Lane Kiffin's contract with Tennessee. Surprisingly enough there was not a big buyout provision that Kiffin had to adhere to. Two paragraphs should be examined: first Article VII, which says Kiffin must notify the athletic director immediately regarding interest in other employment from another college or pro football team; second, Article XVII refers to liquidated damages in case of the coach's early departure to another team. In this case, for leaving in 2010 Kiffin must pay liquidated damages in the amount of $800,000., which is not a very large sum in this day and age.
In depth reporting on Kiffin's move, including expected coaching staff changes and happy quotes from USC players and AD:
http://sports.espn.go.com/los-angeles/ncf/news/story?id=4820737
Sizing Kiffin up, roughly:
http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/blog/dr_saturday/post/One-year-in-Lane-Kiffin-ditches-Tennessee-for-o;_ylt=AoiMJZGnS_Tttoo3CoRaqPo5nYcB?urn=ncaaf,213265
Courtesy of USA Today, Lane Kiffin's contract:
http://i.usatoday.net/sports/graphics/2009/coaches-contracts/pdf/kiffin_tennessee.pdf
Attorney/agent Gary Uberstine who represents both Pete Carroll and Lane Kiffin has truly been busy over the last few days.
Gary Uberstine
Sovereign Immunity Defense
Mike Leach is a brilliant offensive mind when it comes to football and is an attorney to boot, but can he pick apart Texas Tech's sovereign immunity defense? Leach and his lawyers will try.
http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/news?slug=ap-leachfired&prov=ap&type=l
Comments