Sports Law in Action: The Huggins Resignation

On August 24, the University of Cincinnati reached an agreement with Bob Huggins to buy-out the remainder of his contract, thereby ending his tenure as the school's basketball coach. The terms of the buy-out are a bit muddled, but Huggins will receive nearly $3 million as part of the agreement, rather than the $2 million he would have received had no agreement been reached and he had been fired (Koch, "Huggins to receive $3 million buyout," Cinc. Enq., 08/25/05).

So how did the University and Huggins reach this agreement? Thankfully (at least for us), the Cincinnati Enquirer has made available scanned copies of the correspondence sent between Monica Ramai, the University's General Counsel, and Richard Katz, Huggins' attorney. You can access the PDF file here.

The letters, starting in July, begin with a polite tone and a spirit of cooperation. The parties discuss Huggins' tenure at UC, as well as the hopes for an amicable solution, and possibly even a contract extension. Everything changes, though, with the university's letter of August 8. In it, UC takes the gloves off and explains why it no longer wishes to employ its popular coach. The letter states that while Huggins may be a great coach, "his style of leadership is not well suited to advance UC's greater mission," as he has graduated less than 30 percent of his players, and many players have run afoul of the law during his tenure. Due to these "fundamental differences in philosophy," the University thought it best if the two parties went their separate ways.

Huggins, though Katz, fired back four days later, defending Huggins from the university's "absurd contentions," as well as pointing out the success of Jason Maxwell (the only player taken in the 1st round of this year's draft with a college degree) and other basketball graduates. Katz makes it very clear that no one outside of Ohio would have heard of UC without Bob Huggins, and this has helped the university in many areas other than athletics. The letter's tone reminds me of the climatic courtroom scene in A Few Good Men -- Huggins put this university on the map, so how dare you question the manner in which he accomplished this?

The subsequent letters turn to negotiating the specific aspects of the buyout under Ohio law, as well as requests to maintain confidentiality. Finally, the letter of August 23, following a meeting of the parties, gives Huggins the option: we can work something out by 2pm on Wednesday, or you will be terminated on our terms.

As ESPN's Pat Forde writes, Huggins went toe-to-toe with UC president Nancy Zimpher, who began planning his removal in May, and lost. ("Cincy president shows moxie," ESPN.com, 08/24/05). He was finally done in by his players' poor academic performance and troubles with the law, as well as his own run-ins with law enforcement. But firing a popular coach with a long tenure is never an easy move and the University positioned itself well for a victory. The letters provide an insight into how this victory was achieved.

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