Payouts to ex-coaches at ASU, UA to top $18M
Arizona’s two largest state universities have fired their head football coaches “without cause” in the past six weeks, meaning the schools are on the hook for paying out the full amount of their remaining contracts.
The University of Arizona’s payout to Rich Rodriguez is $6.28 million, while Arizona State University’s payment to Todd Graham is $12 million. That’s more than $18 million going to the dismissed coaches, with Rodiguez’s contract running until May 31, 2020, and Graham’s
expiring June 30, 2021.
Under the terms of their contracts, both men are entitled to 100 percent pay for the remainder of their contracts. That applies even if they take other coaching jobs. The lack of a so-called “mitigation clause” in their contracts — in the event they get hired somewhere else — is something that members of the Arizona Board of Regents, which oversees the universities, expressed concerns about in the recent firing of Graham.
Regents Chairman Bill Ridenour on Wednesday said that he supports the university’s decision to fire Rodriguez.
“The decision reinforces the board’s high expectations for leadership on and off the field, and underscores the UA’s commitment to its core values and the UA family,” he said.
Under the terms of the contract, the university can fire a coach on its own. The regents don’t vote on whether to terminate a coach, and Ridenour said he wouldn’t want the board to get involved in this level of management.
Ridenour told The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com that because of the payouts to the coaches, the regents plan to “review our whole contract situation” regarding athletics at a meeting in late January. “Obviously, the Board of Regents is very interested in the (buyout) number,” he said.
He added that no tuition dollars or public money will fund the buyouts. Both universities have self-sustaining athletic departments, he said, although this wasn’t always the case. Arizona State University used to have had one of the most heavily subsidized athletic programs in major-college sports.
ASU has since implemented a mandatory student athletic fee charged to all students to help offset overall athleticdepartment costs, and the UA followed suit with its own student athletic fee this year.
Ridenour said competitive coaching salaries have risen quickly, and he expects salaries to continue to grow. But the regents can make sure there are more clauses in contracts to protect the universities if they part ways with coaches early, he said.
For instance, the regents insisted on a clause in the contract of new ASU football coach Herm Edwards that limits a potential payout.
Edwards would get only 50 percent of the remaining pay on his contract if he were dismissed without cause and took another head-coaching position at a university or another university athletic position at a school in a Power Five conference — the Pac-12, Big 12, Big Ten, SEC or ACC.
Graham was fired Nov. 26 after the Sun Devils struggled during his final three seasons with defense, shaky recruiting and staff turnover.
Rodriguez was fired late Tuesday, a few days after a nine-page legal claim was filed with the Arizona Attorney General’s Office by Melissa Wilhelmsen, his former administrative assistant, and her husband, Jason.
The university said in a statement Tuesday that it hired the Phoenix law firm of Cohen Dowd Quigley to “conduct a comprehensive investigation” in October, after a former employee in the athletics department alleged that Rodriguez harassed her on multiple occasions.
The investigation concluded Dec. 28 and found that the original harassment allegations against Rodriguez “could not be substantiated based on the evidence and witnesses available. However, Arizona Athletics did become aware of information, both before and during the investigation, which caused it to be concerned with the direction and climate of the football program,” according to the statement.
Arizona officials said the school had grown uncomfortable with the direction of the program on the field and fired him without cause.
Rodriguez has adamantly denied the allegations, except that he had an extramarital affair. Wilhelmsen said she and two others on the football staff were forced to lie to cover up the affair.
Rodriguez’s contract stipulates that he can be fired “with cause” for a number of reasons, including dishonesty, neglect of duties, personal conduct that impairs his ability to fulfill duties or conviction of a felony. He also could be fired for violating NCAA regulations or any university policy.
If he were fired for cause, he would be entitled to far less: his salary to date, plus any incentive compensation he had already earned, such as payments for winning a certain number of regular-season games or going to a bowl game.
The same day the university concluded its investigation, Wilhelmsen filed the $7.5 million claim with the attorney general. UA officials said they were unaware of the claim during their investigations and didn’t see a copy until earlier this week.