Vested_Interest
11-28-2009, 10:14 PM
...legally speaking. (http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/11/24/legally-speaking-now-is-time-to-fire-rich-rodriguez/)
Some highlights:
...A bit of a legal primer: All NCAA contracts contain a contractual provision allowing a school to end their relationship with a coach "for cause." Think of it is as the school's parachute in the event the plane is going down. Unlike a golden parachute where a coach is fired but receives millions to end the contract, firing someone "for cause" effectively wipes away the buyout provisions in a contract.
Rather than face a multi-million dollar obligation for a buyout, something Michigan fans are all too familiar with after the negotiations between Rich Rod and West Virginia, the school can allege a major violation of NCAA rules or intentional misconduct and show him to the door. Given that the NCAA and Michigan are already investigating Rodriguez and the football program over the amount of hours that players have spent playing or practicing football each week, the door would appear to be open to push Rich Rod out.
Some Michigan fans might be thinking, why can't we give Rich Rod one more season to see if he can win and then fire him for cause if he fails again? Here's the reason: If you uncover a breach of your contract and don't act upon it within a reasonable time, then you can't later scream breach at your convenience in order to invalidate a contract. According to the law you have to act within a reasonable time upon learning of the breach.
Michigan probably has a good idea what the results of their internal investigation are going to uncover. Why? Because the school already announced that Rich Rod and crew have failed to keep adequate logs of their players' hours spent on football. Of course, this is a preliminary finding that probably doesn't rise to the level of major violation, but releasing this information suggests that Michigan is far enough along in their internal investigation to have some idea what their final results will be. [...] *emphasis VI's*
In a nutshell: giving Rodriguez another season after an official finding of guilt in the early months of 2010 ...may be tantamount to giving him legal grounds to dispute a later contention of "cause" for dismissal.
Some highlights:
...A bit of a legal primer: All NCAA contracts contain a contractual provision allowing a school to end their relationship with a coach "for cause." Think of it is as the school's parachute in the event the plane is going down. Unlike a golden parachute where a coach is fired but receives millions to end the contract, firing someone "for cause" effectively wipes away the buyout provisions in a contract.
Rather than face a multi-million dollar obligation for a buyout, something Michigan fans are all too familiar with after the negotiations between Rich Rod and West Virginia, the school can allege a major violation of NCAA rules or intentional misconduct and show him to the door. Given that the NCAA and Michigan are already investigating Rodriguez and the football program over the amount of hours that players have spent playing or practicing football each week, the door would appear to be open to push Rich Rod out.
Some Michigan fans might be thinking, why can't we give Rich Rod one more season to see if he can win and then fire him for cause if he fails again? Here's the reason: If you uncover a breach of your contract and don't act upon it within a reasonable time, then you can't later scream breach at your convenience in order to invalidate a contract. According to the law you have to act within a reasonable time upon learning of the breach.
Michigan probably has a good idea what the results of their internal investigation are going to uncover. Why? Because the school already announced that Rich Rod and crew have failed to keep adequate logs of their players' hours spent on football. Of course, this is a preliminary finding that probably doesn't rise to the level of major violation, but releasing this information suggests that Michigan is far enough along in their internal investigation to have some idea what their final results will be. [...] *emphasis VI's*
In a nutshell: giving Rodriguez another season after an official finding of guilt in the early months of 2010 ...may be tantamount to giving him legal grounds to dispute a later contention of "cause" for dismissal.