The unofficial online home for fans of the Kent State University Golden Flashes. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

I can't link it for some reason because I'm on my phone. But seems the gamble paid off.

KENT STATE GOLDEN FLASHES
MAC MEN'S BASKETBALL
Judge awards Kent State $1.2 million in Geno Ford contract dispute
By Matt Sussman  @suss2hyphens on Jul 16 2013, 11:07a +

Kim Klement-US PRESSWIRE
Because legal MACtion never sleeps.

You may remember when Geno Ford left Kent State on high accord to go to Bradley, which didn't seem like a huge step up but monetarily it was. The problem was that KSU felt Ford breached his contract by taking another job, so they sued and two years later here we are. A Portage (Ohio) County judge awarded $1.2 million, which I am assuming was derived from four years remaining on his Kent State contract at $300,000 base salary (ergo the buyout money).

Boom.

Ford is making $700K annually at Bradley and if you're curious about his success, he got through the standard transition year at 7-25, following it up with an 18-17 record and a quarterfinal appearance in the CIT — or one level further than Kent State made it.

And they're not done. They're pursuing a tortious interference claim against Ford, whose trial is set to begin October. This one speaks to me personally because I just spent two weeks on a jury that awarded $2 million to a plaintiff company for, among other things, tortious interference. These decisions are remarkably complicated and tough to determine. Two parties can't agree on money, so a third party figures it out for them. You didn't go to law school for a reason, and you are better off for it, but you now spend your free time reading sports blogs rather than signing expensive contracts, which can be dangerous.
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Wonder if appeals are in order. Glad to hear of this ruling.

I feel quite certain this is far from over.

Good for Geno. Funny but his buddy wrote articles how the school should just go easy on him and take whatever $, they never wavered in their stance and held firm. nice to see them receive the proper judgment. Pay up Geno!!!

http://www.pjstar.com/free/x853689962/Ke...-Geno-Ford

PH- take it easy. He is a true KSU ambassador and simply wants what's best for KSU. There were a lot of people that felt the same way he did. The others (or most of the others), wanted the full monty, but didn't believe for a second we would be awarded the full amount in court. Either way, this is a long way from over.

If the results stand, this could be a landmark case and change the entire landscape of the college coaching carousel.

I have no doubt that he is, but he let his personal feelings cloud his ability to remain objective. Just like he wrote that he wrote articles to light a fire under a player, I believe he covered this fiasco with too much slant to the Geno camp to persuade the people to just walk away from $$$ and let him be. Curious if he felt that same way once hired by them.

And it's a landmark case only because its almost always paid right away and doesn't go this far. Coach Hazell and I'm sure Stricklin walked away with total class and assurances that their buyouts would be covered. Purdue stepped up to work with Hazell on his as an incentive in his contract. It didn't need to get this far. Had Geno been canned he'd have wanted his $$$$, so he should expect he same to. Why put a buyout clause in a contract if you're just going to be allowed to walk away? F Geno!

Hopefully this stands and it gives pause to people hiring away from us in that fashion. Don't go behind somebody's back. Notice that we did not do this to our football and baseball coaches (or previous basketball coaches) because most of them did it in the right way. I don't like coaches leaving but I understand it and most leave with ok terms. What Geno did (and probably more importantly sadly is what Bradley did to push him to do it) was not acceptable.

A corporate attorney explained how a judgement in a similar case might work. Helped me to understand the hypotheticals:

1. Summary judgement basically claims that both parties agree to the stipulated facts ( i.e. Geno Ford was the coach at Kent State, Geno Ford signed a contract with this particular language on this date, this is Geno's signature, etc, etc, etc.)

2. Any facts not stipulated go in favor of the defendant ( in this case, Geno). So, any language, etc., etc. upon which Geno and KSU disagree upon go in favor of Geno in a summary judgement.

3. The judge renders a summary judgement (based upon the first two conditions above) as though it is a trial. The judge's verdict is like a jury verdict. There will not be an October trial on the issue of Geno's breach of contract. This judgement has been issued.

4. A summary judgement can be appealed. In contract law, the basis for appeal is typically because the judge did not correctly apply contract law, not factual disputes. (See the first two points. If both sides agreed upon facts, and all ties went to Geno, what facts exist to appeal?)

5. If Geno wins an appeal, and that's an IF, then we get another chance to argue our points, too.

Hope this helps.

(07-16-2013 04:23 PM)dannyb73 Wrote:  PH- take it easy on Carducci. He is a true KSU ambassador and simply wants what's best for KSU. There were a lot of people that felt the same way he did. The others (or most of the others), wanted the full monty, but didn't believe for a second we would be awarded the full amount in court. Either way, this is a long way from over.

If the results stand, this could be a landmark case and change the entire landscape of the college coaching carousel.

Why do you feel it's a long way from over, Danny? The facts don't seem to be in dispute, only application of the law. Does Geno have the money and the energy to prove Enrow has the contract case law wrong?

The only thing I think it changes is that both parties, coaches and Universities, better understand what they sign. No one has a obligation to renegotiate after the fact.

FlashFan, I read your points and have no reason to disagree with anything you typed (because I am not a lawyer.....although half my family is). I just feel with 100% certainty Geno and his legal team will find a reason to appeal the verdict. Maybe I am wrong. Won't be the first time.

I'm curious how much (if any) Bradley will chip in. If memory serves they weren't interested in helping in the buyout when they first hired him. I don't know much about these kind of situations but doesn't the hiring school usually pay a significant portion of it?

I thought he was making $900k/yr @ Bradley?

This is far from over and in my eyes a lose for Kent State due to a couple of reasons.

1. It's my understadning Geno offered to pay about 60% of the total 1.2M. Would have been over a # of years. But this would have been cash in hand for Kent State. With all the appeals i will bet we will not see 700K of cash at the end of the day. Many in the dept wanted to accept this but Lester said no thanks as he took this personal.

2. Not sure this is a good thing for kent reputation in the coaching community. All good coaches aspire to reach the top level so will we be viewed as being difficult in the coaching community. Meaning if between 2 jobs will top rising coaches pick the other vs us because of a reputation on how we treat outgoing coaches.

(07-17-2013 10:30 AM)ksu315 Wrote:  This is far from over and in my eyes a lose for Kent State due to a couple of reasons.

1. It's my understadning Geno offered to pay about 60% of the total 1.2M. Would have been over a # of years. But this would have been cash in hand for Kent State. With all the appeals i will bet we will not see 700K of cash at the end of the day. Many in the dept wanted to accept this but Lester said no thanks as he took this personal.

2. Not sure this is a good thing for kent reputation in the coaching community. All good coaches aspire to reach the top level so will we be viewed as being difficult in the coaching community. Meaning if between 2 jobs will top rising coaches pick the other vs us because of a reputation on how we treat outgoing coaches.

We've had several coaches move on to better things previously, the difference is they did it the right way. You don't develop a reputation based on the outlier. IMO, if we'd not taking any action we'd be a doormat and it would have turned our program into a joke.

It reflects far more on the exception (Geno's) than what has become to be the rule (Hazell, Striclin etc...). Everyone else has move one with class and dignity and we wished them well on the way out. If we didn't take a stand all other buyouts wouldn't be worth the paper they're written on.

(07-17-2013 10:30 AM)ksu315 Wrote:  This is far from over and in my eyes a lose for Kent State due to a couple of reasons.

1. It's my understadning Geno offered to pay about 60% of the total 1.2M. Would have been over a # of years. But this would have been cash in hand for Kent State. With all the appeals i will bet we will not see 700K of cash at the end of the day. Many in the dept wanted to accept this but Lester said no thanks as he took this personal.

2. Not sure this is a good thing for kent reputation in the coaching community. All good coaches aspire to reach the top level so will we be viewed as being difficult in the coaching community. Meaning if between 2 jobs will top rising coaches pick the other vs us because of a reputation on how we treat outgoing coaches.

Can't disagree more.

1. I am certain GF wants to save face by telling his supporters that this isn't over. But at some point, chest thumping meets reality. A summary judgement means it is over at the circuit level. GF can appeal, but he has to prove his case for appeal by showing 1) the facts used in the summary judgement are wrong and/or contract law as applied in summary judgement was wrong. The first point, the facts are wrong, is difficult to impossible because all contested facts were resolved in Geno's favor. Is his point " The judge was in error when he agreed with me?" The second point is also difficult. No circuit judge wants to be overturned on appeal. I imagine the contract law was applied very carefully.

Just my opinion: This may not be over, but I'd rather be on KSU's side at this point.

2. Perhaps some of the coaches we don't want anyway will be dissuaded away from KSU because of this action. You know, the ones that want to milk us for what we're worth until she or he can move on to greener fields or quit. But, since we've hired highly qualified coaches in Women's b ball, football and baseball since our action, the view that our enforcement of contracts will discourage high quality coaches doesn't seem to be true. Can you name a coach that we wanted and didn't get because we enforce contracts? One might think high character individuals would be comforted to know that we'll live up to the guarantees we make.

Let's see.....other than Geno, our last 3 coaches went to a Big East school, an SEC school, and a Mountain West (now a Big 12 school). Our last football coach went to the Big Ten and our baseball coach went to the SEC.

Coaches want to come here because they know if they win they will get rewarded.