Rodriguez agrees to settle with WVU, pay $4 million

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- Former West Virginia University football coach Rich Rodriguez and the University of Michigan have agreed to pay a $4 million buyout and settle a lawsuit that WVU filed after he broke his contract in December.

Rodriguez will pay $1.5 million in three annual payments beginning January 2010. The Wolverines athletic department, his new employer, will pay $2.5 million by the end of July and cover Rodriguez's legal fees, the University of Michigan said in a statement Wednesday.

"To help Rich focus on the challenges ahead, we have worked with him to resolve the dispute between him and West Virginia University over the terms of his buyout," Michigan athletic director Bill Martin said. "Although he continues to disagree with the validity of the terms, Rich and the rest of us at Michigan felt that it would be best to get this distracting issue behind us."

The WVU Board of Governors held a special meeting Wednesday and approved the agreement, settling a case attorneys Tom Flaherty and Jeff Wakefield were set to try this fall.

"It's a case that should have settled a long time ago and could have settled a long time ago. It's in the best interest of everyone to resolve it," Flaherty said.

Rodriguez quit the Mountaineers in December for the head coaching job at Michigan, only a year after extending his contract with WVU. He had argued that WVU broke the contract first by failing to honor certain promises -- a charge WVU denied.

The settlement was reached on what had been a key deadline in the case. As part of the discovery process, a judge had given Rodriguez until the end of Tuesday to reveal whether the University of Michigan or anyone else had agreed to pay WVU on his behalf.

I do not have a dog in this fight (sorry if not PC), but I'm glad West Virginia won. These team-hopping coaches need to be held to the terms of their contract. If a coach gets fired, they expect the university to honor their contract and pay them. Why shouldn't the university expect anything less, if a coach skips out on a contract?

Serves him right.

I believe Rodriguez is going to be a major bust at Mich. and they will be looking for someone new within 5 years.

3 posted on 07/10/2008 6:01:15 PM PDT by Proud_USA_Republican (We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good. - Hillary Clinton)

I agree, he probably won’t make it five years.

4 posted on 07/10/2008 6:02:34 PM PDT by WVNight (We havn't played Cowboys and Muslims yet....)

In a desperate attempt to beat Ohio State, he’s going to start recruiting all kinds of 5th grade reading level low-lifes.
Not only will he be fired within 5 years, but we are talking NCAA sanctions against the program as well.

5 posted on 07/10/2008 6:10:54 PM PDT by Proud_USA_Republican (We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good. - Hillary Clinton)

Best comment I’ve read here in Buckeye country. “Rich
Rodriguez - another Hispanic doing a job that no American
wants to do.”

7 posted on 07/10/2008 8:47:30 PM PDT by Thanks RR Rest Well (Vote Obama - Get Free Stuff!)

I have a hunch Michigan might end up regretting this hire. Alot of people are saying Michigan might even have a losing record this year.

8 posted on 07/10/2008 9:00:44 PM PDT by fkabuckeyesrule (I knew there was a reason I supported Phil Gramm in 1996!!!!)

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