Auburn's offer for T.T.

What kills me is a coach saying "I want to stay and coach your team, but in order to do that, you have to make it easier to quit."

Basically that is what is being said when you ask to renegotiate a contract and lower the buyout. If a coach really wants to be loyal and stay at a place for a while, he should be willing to have a contract with a larger buyout, as long as it is on equal terms.

In the Tuberville situation, if I am the Auburn AD, why would I want to sign him to an extention with a lower buyoutand then have him walk in a year or two and have less money in hand because of it? Rather let him walk now and collect the $6 million.

I agree.

That was the point I was attempting to make in my post above.

If a coach really wants to be at a school (say CTT and Auburn) he shouldn't care what the buyout is - as long as it is equal on both sides. The current contract is equal. The first two years had a buyout of $7MM, next two years were 6, then 5, 4 and 3. That was the buyout to Auburn if he left on his own; that was also the payout to Tuberville if he was fired.

As an AU alum and donor, if he is playing hardball to get better facilities for the team, that is one thing, and I would support it wholeheartedly. If he is trying to get better deals for his assistants, I understand that to a degree. If he is trying to make it easier on himself to leave, I say go on now.

What really confuses me is, if the reports I read are correct, if he and his staff that came from Ole Miss in '99 stay one more year, they are fully vested as state employees in the Alabama retirement system. Tuberville has always preached loyalty to his assistants. Why would he be willig to uproot them and potentially cost them a wonderful state pension just for his own ego.

I have heard that they are going to throw in a thousand acres and 250 head of cattle.

Unfortunately Lowder is too entrenched in Auburn (and the state of Alabama as a whole) for the athletic department to be able to keep him from having some influence.

The current contract (really interesting to read) has a clause in it that states not only can Tuberville nor his agent have talks with other schools or NFL teams without first notifying Auburn, Auburn and representatives of the school cannot contact other potential coaches without notifying Tuberville first. That clause was added as a direct result of the Louisville incident.

Opelika-Auburn News is reporting the extension has a buyout that is a little lower ($5MM for 2008 as opposed to $6) and then drops to 4 for 2009 (as opposed to 5) but then stays at 4 for the remainder of the contract.