Rich Rodriguez settles with WVU

Michigan football coach Rich Rodriguez and West Virginia University, his former employer, have settled the school's lawsuit over the $ 4 million buyout. WVU will receive the entire $ 4 million, $ 1.5 million from Rodriguez in three annual payments beginning in January 2010 and $ 2.5 million from the University of Michigan. Reports and commentary, including a statement from UM, here, here, and here. And the College of Law's Legal Perspective Blog has details on everything that as happened in the case up to this point. So the case illustrates one final principle of civil litigation--most cases settle in the end.

As for long-term consequences, the fact that WVU will receive the full buyout, and that the real quibble was over who would pay it and when, suggests that schools may well be able to get away with including and enforcing steep buyout clauses in contracts as a way to at least slow the coaching carousel.

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