Article: U of M and Rodriguez will pay WVU

[P J Shaker]

Rodriguez, Michigan's football coach since December, has agreed to pay a $4-million liquidated damages clause, commonly referred to as a buyout, for leaving West Virginia to take the U-M job.

He will pay $1.5 million, spread over three years, beginning in 2010. U-M said it will pay the balance of the sum, $2.5 million, immediately and cover Rodriguez's legal fees later.
Michigan athletic director Bill Martin said in a statement released Wednesday that the money will come from the athletic department's reserve funds, which are annual operational surpluses from such sources as sponsorships, licenses and media-rights payments.

Michigan and Rodriguez were motivated to end the public bickering before the football season, so as to avoid a distraction.
The move came a day after Rodriguez and Michigan higher-ups met to discuss the situation.

"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," Martin said in the statement. "This situation is now resolved, and we are ready to move onward to a new era of Michigan football. Go Blue!"
Rodriguez was unavailable for comment.

The decision to pay the buyout ends seven months of contentious, public sparring that was initiated when West Virginia sued Rodriguez for the $4 million on Dec. 27, 11 days after he accepted the U-M job. A trial was looming next spring.

Attempts to obtain Rodriguez's U-M contract through the Freedom of Information Act have been unsuccessful, because the school contends that the contract is not completed -- likely because the WVU lawsuit hadn't been settled. A letter of intent Rodriguez signed when he accepted the U-M job in December stated that the coach would be paid $2.5 million annually.

The agreement in the buyout dispute was reached Tuesday evening, and the payment was approved by the WVU Board of Governors on Wednesday.

"We think, obviously, when the final papers are completed, hopefully, this will end the dispute and both sides can move forward and there will be no animosity between Coach Rodriguez and West Virginia," WVU attorney Jeff Wakefield said.

The agreement would seem to be a major concession for Rodriguez, who adamantly fought the charges. He repeatedly asserted that the $4-million buyout was not enforceable because he was coerced last August into signing the contract amendment that instituted the clause.

"There comes a point that you got to make a decision that you got to do what you feel is right, and the wife and I have talked about this numerous times," Rodriguez said May 1.

"We have to do what we feel is right. It has been more painful doing it that way, but a lot of times, if you go back to your base of why you are doing it, it helps ease the pain a little bit. We got to do what is right, and we feel, for us, it would have been a heck of a lot easier not to go through with this, wouldn't it?"

Rodriguez said he was promised by WVU president Mike Garrison that the buyout clause would not be enforced and that certain program upgrades would be implemented. He also said he was pressured to sign by West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin.
So why the sudden settlement? It could be due to a couple of deadlines.
There was a Tuesday deadline requiring Rodriguez's side to produce information to a West Virginia court regarding any agreement to have someone pay the $4 million for him if he lost the case.

And, following significant resistance from U-M's general counsel, there was a July 3 filing in an Ann Arbor court, asking for subpoenas to force U-M president Mary Sue Coleman and Martin into depositions. A hearing on that had been set for Wednesday.
Though the conclusion was announced Wednesday, Rodriguez's camp had been discussing the possibility for more than a month.
When Rodriguez left WVU in December, there was precedent for him to not pay the entire buyout. Michigan basketball coach John Beilein negotiated a reduction in his buyout from $2.5 million to $1.5 million, without litigation, after leaving West Virginia. But WVU took a much harder stance with Rodriguez.

The back-and-forth drew national attention, with Rodriguez often the target of public ridicule. While he repeatedly said he was arguing for what he believed was right, the saga distracted from Michigan's football program, as he drew questions about the lawsuit at many public appearances.

On Jan. 29, he made his only public concession of the ordeal, filing a $1.5-million letter of credit with the court, essentially stating that that was the maximum he would be responsible for. His attorneys said it was an act of good faith, and there was hope the move would be seen as a desire to settle, but WVU never acted on that.
The letter of credit was secured through the Bank of Ann Arbor, a bank founded by Martin, but expired in late April, which means it likely would not be pertinent to the current settlement.


SOURCE- Detroit Free Press, www.freep.com