Maybe just maybe this saga will come to an end. It appears as was reported, now in several places that Rich Rod, or someone on his behalf, will have to pay the full 4 million in liquidated damages to WVU. The Detroit Free Press is reporting that UM will be paying 2.5 million plus his attorney fees and Rich Rod will pay the ballance of 1.5 million. The compromise is the attorney fees where each side will have to bear its own.
"WVU Attorney Tom Flaherty tells Metronews, “We’ve got a tentative settlement."..."One key that triggered a settlement appeared to be the pressure brought by WVU to depose Michigan President Sue Coleman and Athletic Director Bill Martin. There was a hearing scheduled in Michigan this afternoon on WVU’s attempts to force the two to testify under oath what they knew about the hiring of Rodriguez and the buyout clause in the contract with WVU.
WVU was trying to show that Rodriguez must have understood the buyout provision because he negotiated with Michigan to help with the payment.
Another key development was Michigan’s release of documents that reportedly showed Michigan agreed to help pay the buyout."-(for complete story click on this link)West Virginia Metro News-Hoppy Kercheval
"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."-(for complete story click on this link)YahooSports
This is a tentative agreement that if approved by the WVU Board of Governors will be a reality. I am not sure what the attorney fees will be but I am guessing somewhere in excess of 500k. (Maybe they will donate a portion of those to the University. {wishful thinking})That being said, it looks like WVU will basically be able to pay for this years staff with this money. Mostly, I am hoping that this will put to bed this era of WVU football. Rich Rod thanks for getting us to this point but good bye. It is time to move on the the Coach Stewart era full steam ahead.
DaGeek
4 comments:
I'm sure I'm going to get sick of hearing about it during the nationally televised games. Expect it to be a running commentary every time WVU is mentioned. Hopefully, our play on the field will be good enough to overshadow this as a story!
Now, let's bring on the Mountaineers!
Yes the press will find a way to make this story last. Its a shame that Pat White isn't story enough for them. Also, it is a very big shame that this is going to possibly overshadow anything accomplished by the new staff. I just want to put that era behind us and move on.
The board of Governors approved the settlement and thus it is a done deal. Let's Go Mountaineers!!!
"Officials said terms of the full value settlement agreement include a timetable for payments, with the first payment of $2.5 million due by the end of July, and the remaining $1.5 million to be paid in three equal installments (January 2010, January 2011 and January 2012). There will be no further legal action or claims."- Official press release from WVU.
I can't see it as a problem. The agreement by UM and DickRod to pay the full amount gives the impression that WVU has been in the right on this all along. WVU settled for nothing and won everything. Though I don't look forward to hearing about it all year either, I don't see how people can spin this against WVU.
Additionally, this could actually benefit Pat White. If the Mounties and Pat White especially are very successful this year, any ongoing saga the press wishes to create will just bring additional attention to Pat White's play sans Rodriguez. It will just be a matter of wether Stewart and the rest of the team can deal with it.
Finallly, from the comments I've been reading, UM fans are very upset about this result. Though many of them are probably happy this is behind them (sort of), they sound quite disappointed with UM's decision to assist in bailing out a sleazebag.
Finally,
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