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LSU and Louisiana Tech are having to Lawyer-up
The state of Louisiana remains the only US state utilizing the Napoleonic code civil legal system.
Louisiana was a former French colony prior to being sold (along with several future first-round US statehood draft picks west of the Mississippi River!) to the United States for a measly $15 million back in 1803. When adjusted for inflation, the Louisiana Purchase territories would cost a measly $370 million today.
Hindsight indicates that, yes, French ruler Napoleon Bonaparte was fleeced in that deal.
In recent sports terms, it was almost the equivalent of the Jimmy Johnson-era Dallas Cowboys hoodwinking the Minnesota Vikings in that blockbuster Herschel Walker trade in October, 1989.
What does this have to do with sports in Louisiana?
As today’s two stories begin to play out over the coming months, remember that it will be Louisiana’s legal system which may be rendering some important rulings soon.
Former LSU football coach Brian Kelly has filed suit against the school
Reports recently surfaced that the school has yet to officially fire Coach Brian Kelly – despite the entire world knowing that he was sent packing more than two weeks ago in Baton Rouge.
Lawyers for Coach Kelly claim that he simply wants the school to perform under the terms of his employment contract. That means that LSU must pay Brian Kelly 90% of his former contract pay (or about $700,000 per month) through December 31, 2031. It totals to nearly $54 million by the time the final payment is made in six years.
LSU may (or may not) be trying to legally posture itself to show that the school had “just cause” to fire Brian Kelly.
Yes, I’m snickering about that, too. Going 5-3 doesn’t prove anything other than the LSU Tigers have a lousy offense this season with a woeful offensive line.
The school also may try to claim that former Director of Athletics, Scott Woodward, did not have the authority to dismiss the school’s football coach nor to offer him an alternative contract buyout proposal.
Yes, this is the same Scott Woodward who was also shown the door in Baton Rouge four days after he announced Coach Kelly’s dismissal.
Confused yet?
Coach Brian Kelly’s long-term contract with LSU reportedly included a provision where his remaining contract buyout payments would be reduced should he accept another major college coaching position prior to December 31, 2031.
Since we’re talking about lawsuits filed in the state of Louisiana and its unique legal procedures, a negotiated settlement agreement (which happens in many court cases) seems to be a distinct possibility.
Speaking of settlement offers, did LSU’s former AD Scott Woodward make a one-time $25-to-$30 million cash offer to Coach Kelly to leave if he would terminate his employment contract?
The media has reported that a negotiation was underway with Coach Brian Kelly (or his attorney) for a one-time payment of $25 million in cash if he would agree to terminate his existing employment agreement.
That lump sum payment would be Coach Kelly’s to keep – even if he landed another coaching job within weeks or months.
The cash offer was (reportedly) boosted to $30 million (two payments of $15 million apiece) with no strings attached in hopes that Coach Kelly would agree to terminate his employment contract with LSU.
Coach Kelly’s attorney(s) rejected these alternative offers. Monday’s lawsuit filed on behalf of Brian Kelly simply wants LSU to honor the terms of the original contract and pay up to $54 million in monthly installments through 12/31/31.
Would that $30 million one-time cash offer be a better deal for Coach Kelly?
No. At least, not right now.
Using a 4% annual interest rate, a one-time $30 million payment made on January 1, 2026 would be worth about $38 million on December 31, 2031 (the end of Coach Kelly’s contract).
This financial evaluation gets trickier if Brian Kelly were to land another head coaching job at some point during that six year period. If he accepted this one-time $30 million cash payment, the coach would be permitted to keep the loot and find another job right away (if he chooses to coach again).
Coach Kelly’s current contract at LSU will pay him least $8.1 million per year (90% of his annual pay) for a total of nearly $54 million by December 31, 2031. However, that current employment contract with LSU apparently had some type of mechanism which would reduce the amount of Brian Kelly’s buyout should he accept another head coaching position prior to 12/31/31.
Brian Kelly is 64 years old. There are ten other major college football coaching positions (other than LSU) which are open today.
The real question should be, “Does he really want to coach again?”
Personally, I would take LSU’s one-time offer and try my hand at television like former Alabama coach Nick Saban has been doing. Brian Kelly is very smart, an exceptional communicator, and would make a terrific television analyst covering college football.
Meanwhile, Conference USA accuses Louisiana Tech of trying to run a trick (exit) play
There is another sports-related courtroom drama unfolding in the northern portion of the Bayou State after Conference USA recently filed suit against Louisiana Tech University.
You might remember that Louisiana Tech advised Conference USA in July that the Bulldogs were leaving C-USA for the Sunbelt Conference. The Bulldogs’ new conference is willing to take them effective with the 2026 football season, but Conference USA sees things differently.
Louisiana Tech’s exit provisions with Conference USA are a bit messy.
Media reports indicate that C-USA requires 14 months prior notice before allowing the Bulldogs to gain their freedom and join the Sunbelt Conference. That means that Louisiana Tech may be forced to remain in Conference USA through the early summer of 2027.
Some Bulldogs fans (like me) had been hoping that C-USA was willing to negotiate a reasonable exit arrangement for Louisiana Tech to become effective next summer in 2026.
A type of “I’ll scratch your back if you’ll scratch mine” deal might even involve Louisiana Tech offering additional compensation in trade for C-USA allowing the Bulldogs to skedaddle as early as next summer.
Keep dreaming, SwampSwami!
Conference USA filed suit on November 5 in a Louisiana state court (home “court” advantage goes to Louisiana Tech) alleging that the Bulldogs have attempted to hoodwink C-USA as part of the school’s planned move to the Sunbelt Conference.
Dallas-based Conference USA negotiates the national media contracts on behalf of its member schools. The conference then acts as a funnel to collect the revenues and eventually sends a share back to each member school on an annual basis.
Louisiana Tech’s most recent share of Conference USA’s revenues amounted to a little more than $5 million and was paid by C-USA in late June this year.
Conference USA believes that Louisiana Tech intentionally delayed its exit announcement until mid-July in order to pocket last season’s $5+ million payment first.
The lawsuit alleges that Louisiana Tech improperly received this summer’s payment after the school had already determined that it was leaving Conference USA.
According to media reports, the league’s by-laws call for an exiting school to provide 14 months of prior notice and to forfeit its annual share of conference revenues for two years after providing notice of its intention to leave.
This is the athletics conference which has become known as “See ya”-USA
The initial concept behind 1995’s founding of Conference USA appears to have been to provide a group of mid-major college athletic programs located in larger metropolitan areas with good competition and greater national media exposure.
The 1995 founding members of Conference USA were: UAB, Cincinnati, DePaul, Louisville, Marquette, Memphis, UNC-Charlotte, St. Louis University, South Florida, Southern Miss, and Tulane. All member institutions except Southern Miss were located in US cities with metropolitan populations greater than 500,000.
None of those original members remain.
Since its founding thirty years ago, Conference USA has seen a significant number of members leave and be replaced by schools in (generally) smaller television markets.
The last three years have seen an acceleration of notable C-USA members exiting the league.
The year 2022 featured a large group including UNC-Charlotte, Florida Atlantic, North Texas, Rice, University of Alabama-Birmingham, and UT-San Antonio leaving C-USA to join the American Athletic Conference.
One year later, Marshall, Old Dominion, and Southern Miss left Conference USA for the Sunbelt Conference.
The University of Texas-El Paso is now playing in its final year in C-USA. The Miners are leaving for the Mountain West Conference next summer.
Louisiana Tech should quickly settle this suit with Conference USA and exit in 2026
The lawsuit brought by Conference USA against the University of Louisiana system (of which Louisiana Tech is a part of) has a show-cause hearing scheduled for November 19.
It’s going to be hard to prove intent in court – especially in a Louisiana state court.
What isn’t hard to do is to prove that Conference USA is not a place where Louisiana Tech needs to stay beyond the current 2025/2026 school year.
If Conference USA is trying to make an “example” out of Louisiana Tech, then it’s time to sit down soon and work out a mutually agreeable exit agreement.
The Bulldogs should come up with enough cash to soothe C-USA’s dwindling bank account. Perhaps the north Louisiana school might consider offering a portion of one or more years of its future Sunbelt Conference revenues to give Conference USA something of value in return for an early exit.
The only thing certain about Louisiana’s two upcoming legal cases of “Brian Kelly vs. LSU” and “Conference USA vs. Louisiana Tech” will be the significant fees being paid to the attorneys involved on behalf of each party.
Here’s hoping that both cases are settled quickly so everyone can move ahead.
The post LSU and Louisiana Tech are having to Lawyer-up appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.
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By SwampSwamiSports.comThe state of Louisiana remains the only US state utilizing the Napoleonic code civil legal system.
Louisiana was a former French colony prior to being sold (along with several future first-round US statehood draft picks west of the Mississippi River!) to the United States for a measly $15 million back in 1803. When adjusted for inflation, the Louisiana Purchase territories would cost a measly $370 million today.
Hindsight indicates that, yes, French ruler Napoleon Bonaparte was fleeced in that deal.
In recent sports terms, it was almost the equivalent of the Jimmy Johnson-era Dallas Cowboys hoodwinking the Minnesota Vikings in that blockbuster Herschel Walker trade in October, 1989.
What does this have to do with sports in Louisiana?
As today’s two stories begin to play out over the coming months, remember that it will be Louisiana’s legal system which may be rendering some important rulings soon.
Former LSU football coach Brian Kelly has filed suit against the school
Reports recently surfaced that the school has yet to officially fire Coach Brian Kelly – despite the entire world knowing that he was sent packing more than two weeks ago in Baton Rouge.
Lawyers for Coach Kelly claim that he simply wants the school to perform under the terms of his employment contract. That means that LSU must pay Brian Kelly 90% of his former contract pay (or about $700,000 per month) through December 31, 2031. It totals to nearly $54 million by the time the final payment is made in six years.
LSU may (or may not) be trying to legally posture itself to show that the school had “just cause” to fire Brian Kelly.
Yes, I’m snickering about that, too. Going 5-3 doesn’t prove anything other than the LSU Tigers have a lousy offense this season with a woeful offensive line.
The school also may try to claim that former Director of Athletics, Scott Woodward, did not have the authority to dismiss the school’s football coach nor to offer him an alternative contract buyout proposal.
Yes, this is the same Scott Woodward who was also shown the door in Baton Rouge four days after he announced Coach Kelly’s dismissal.
Confused yet?
Coach Brian Kelly’s long-term contract with LSU reportedly included a provision where his remaining contract buyout payments would be reduced should he accept another major college coaching position prior to December 31, 2031.
Since we’re talking about lawsuits filed in the state of Louisiana and its unique legal procedures, a negotiated settlement agreement (which happens in many court cases) seems to be a distinct possibility.
Speaking of settlement offers, did LSU’s former AD Scott Woodward make a one-time $25-to-$30 million cash offer to Coach Kelly to leave if he would terminate his employment contract?
The media has reported that a negotiation was underway with Coach Brian Kelly (or his attorney) for a one-time payment of $25 million in cash if he would agree to terminate his existing employment agreement.
That lump sum payment would be Coach Kelly’s to keep – even if he landed another coaching job within weeks or months.
The cash offer was (reportedly) boosted to $30 million (two payments of $15 million apiece) with no strings attached in hopes that Coach Kelly would agree to terminate his employment contract with LSU.
Coach Kelly’s attorney(s) rejected these alternative offers. Monday’s lawsuit filed on behalf of Brian Kelly simply wants LSU to honor the terms of the original contract and pay up to $54 million in monthly installments through 12/31/31.
Would that $30 million one-time cash offer be a better deal for Coach Kelly?
No. At least, not right now.
Using a 4% annual interest rate, a one-time $30 million payment made on January 1, 2026 would be worth about $38 million on December 31, 2031 (the end of Coach Kelly’s contract).
This financial evaluation gets trickier if Brian Kelly were to land another head coaching job at some point during that six year period. If he accepted this one-time $30 million cash payment, the coach would be permitted to keep the loot and find another job right away (if he chooses to coach again).
Coach Kelly’s current contract at LSU will pay him least $8.1 million per year (90% of his annual pay) for a total of nearly $54 million by December 31, 2031. However, that current employment contract with LSU apparently had some type of mechanism which would reduce the amount of Brian Kelly’s buyout should he accept another head coaching position prior to 12/31/31.
Brian Kelly is 64 years old. There are ten other major college football coaching positions (other than LSU) which are open today.
The real question should be, “Does he really want to coach again?”
Personally, I would take LSU’s one-time offer and try my hand at television like former Alabama coach Nick Saban has been doing. Brian Kelly is very smart, an exceptional communicator, and would make a terrific television analyst covering college football.
Meanwhile, Conference USA accuses Louisiana Tech of trying to run a trick (exit) play
There is another sports-related courtroom drama unfolding in the northern portion of the Bayou State after Conference USA recently filed suit against Louisiana Tech University.
You might remember that Louisiana Tech advised Conference USA in July that the Bulldogs were leaving C-USA for the Sunbelt Conference. The Bulldogs’ new conference is willing to take them effective with the 2026 football season, but Conference USA sees things differently.
Louisiana Tech’s exit provisions with Conference USA are a bit messy.
Media reports indicate that C-USA requires 14 months prior notice before allowing the Bulldogs to gain their freedom and join the Sunbelt Conference. That means that Louisiana Tech may be forced to remain in Conference USA through the early summer of 2027.
Some Bulldogs fans (like me) had been hoping that C-USA was willing to negotiate a reasonable exit arrangement for Louisiana Tech to become effective next summer in 2026.
A type of “I’ll scratch your back if you’ll scratch mine” deal might even involve Louisiana Tech offering additional compensation in trade for C-USA allowing the Bulldogs to skedaddle as early as next summer.
Keep dreaming, SwampSwami!
Conference USA filed suit on November 5 in a Louisiana state court (home “court” advantage goes to Louisiana Tech) alleging that the Bulldogs have attempted to hoodwink C-USA as part of the school’s planned move to the Sunbelt Conference.
Dallas-based Conference USA negotiates the national media contracts on behalf of its member schools. The conference then acts as a funnel to collect the revenues and eventually sends a share back to each member school on an annual basis.
Louisiana Tech’s most recent share of Conference USA’s revenues amounted to a little more than $5 million and was paid by C-USA in late June this year.
Conference USA believes that Louisiana Tech intentionally delayed its exit announcement until mid-July in order to pocket last season’s $5+ million payment first.
The lawsuit alleges that Louisiana Tech improperly received this summer’s payment after the school had already determined that it was leaving Conference USA.
According to media reports, the league’s by-laws call for an exiting school to provide 14 months of prior notice and to forfeit its annual share of conference revenues for two years after providing notice of its intention to leave.
This is the athletics conference which has become known as “See ya”-USA
The initial concept behind 1995’s founding of Conference USA appears to have been to provide a group of mid-major college athletic programs located in larger metropolitan areas with good competition and greater national media exposure.
The 1995 founding members of Conference USA were: UAB, Cincinnati, DePaul, Louisville, Marquette, Memphis, UNC-Charlotte, St. Louis University, South Florida, Southern Miss, and Tulane. All member institutions except Southern Miss were located in US cities with metropolitan populations greater than 500,000.
None of those original members remain.
Since its founding thirty years ago, Conference USA has seen a significant number of members leave and be replaced by schools in (generally) smaller television markets.
The last three years have seen an acceleration of notable C-USA members exiting the league.
The year 2022 featured a large group including UNC-Charlotte, Florida Atlantic, North Texas, Rice, University of Alabama-Birmingham, and UT-San Antonio leaving C-USA to join the American Athletic Conference.
One year later, Marshall, Old Dominion, and Southern Miss left Conference USA for the Sunbelt Conference.
The University of Texas-El Paso is now playing in its final year in C-USA. The Miners are leaving for the Mountain West Conference next summer.
Louisiana Tech should quickly settle this suit with Conference USA and exit in 2026
The lawsuit brought by Conference USA against the University of Louisiana system (of which Louisiana Tech is a part of) has a show-cause hearing scheduled for November 19.
It’s going to be hard to prove intent in court – especially in a Louisiana state court.
What isn’t hard to do is to prove that Conference USA is not a place where Louisiana Tech needs to stay beyond the current 2025/2026 school year.
If Conference USA is trying to make an “example” out of Louisiana Tech, then it’s time to sit down soon and work out a mutually agreeable exit agreement.
The Bulldogs should come up with enough cash to soothe C-USA’s dwindling bank account. Perhaps the north Louisiana school might consider offering a portion of one or more years of its future Sunbelt Conference revenues to give Conference USA something of value in return for an early exit.
The only thing certain about Louisiana’s two upcoming legal cases of “Brian Kelly vs. LSU” and “Conference USA vs. Louisiana Tech” will be the significant fees being paid to the attorneys involved on behalf of each party.
Here’s hoping that both cases are settled quickly so everyone can move ahead.
The post LSU and Louisiana Tech are having to Lawyer-up appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.