EDITOR’S NOTE: Lawyer talk below.
You may have heard that Brian Kelly was fired as the head football coach of LSU on October 26. Well, turns out that isn’t true. While he was relieved of his duties, Kelly has yet to be formally fired by the University apparently. There’s a reason for that. They want to fire him “for cause.” Here’s why that is a HUGE deal.
When the news of the firing first hit the wire, it was a shock. Shocking not because it was unwarranted, but rather due to the $53m still left on the 10/$95m contract he signed with LSU back in 2021. Since he signed a guaranteed contract, that $53m is still owed to him. In these situations, it is usually assumed that the exiting coach accepts a buyout for close to, if not all, the amount left on the contract. Sometimes there are set off clauses in the contract which would lower the total owed if he were to accept a job elsewhere (basically so he isn’t getting paid twice). Well, on Monday Kelly filed a lawsuit against the school. The lawsuit alleges that after initially terminating Kelly and trying to negotiate a buyout, LSU is now claiming that they are firing him “for cause” and intend not to pay him anything. This is after Kelly rejected to buyout offers of $25m and $30m with no setoff.
Firing “for cause” is a contract term that is distinct to each agreement but generally means doing something bad. By “bad” I mean actions like getting arrested, violating school/NCAA policy, excessive alcohol use, drug use, and other such actions that reflect poorly on, or even actively hurt, the school. “Bad” however does NOT mean poor performance. Being bad at the job is part of the risk the school takes by hiring anyone. It is also subjective as hell and not something that can be litigated easily (this isn’t baseball arbitration we’re talking about). If the University successfully argues that he was fired for cause, they would not owe him a penny.
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Philly Front Office 