Did Navy ever give us permission?

[Charleston Pony]

I thought that a lot of those contracts were on that salary board. How did we pull down Butch Davis' and Mack Brown's contract

http://coacheshotseat.com/SalariesContracts.htm

Turner Gill sure looks like a bargain

[Pony Soup]

Is it tortious interference to steal their coach, go 12-0 in 2008, and laugh as Navy fizzles into a 25 year spiral of losing seasons? I'm in...

[Pony^]

there is a small problem called tortious interference with a contract, but I'll let stallion tell you about that

Wiki lists the following as the comon elements for tortious interference:

Elements
Although the specific elements required to prove a claim of tortious interference vary from one jurisdiction to another, they typically include the following:

The existence of a contractual relationship or beneficial business relationship between two parties.

Knowledge of that relationship by a third party.

Intent of the third party to induce a party to the relationship to breach the relationship.

Lack of any privilege on the part of the third party to induce such a breach.

Damage to the party against whom the breach occurs.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tortious_interference


IT IS NOT A BREACH OF CONTRACT IF ONE EXERCISES A VALID BUYOUT OPTION IN A CONTRACT, OR DISCUSSES ONE'S RIGHT TO DO SO. THE BUYOUT IS A VALID CONTRACTUAL TERM AND MAY BE EXERCISED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE TERMS OF THE CONTRACT.

SINCE THERE IS NO BREACH WHEN ONE "BUYS OUT" A CONTRACT IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONTRACTUAL TERMS, THERE IS NO TORTIOUS INTERFERENCE.

[Stallion]

there could a Coaches Code of Conduct or some rules of professional responsibility that govern contacts by AD for permission to contact a Coach. I can't find it in the NCAA Rules but most of those deal with the Student Athlete. But when you do a Google search you can find easily find 15-20 instances where permission was sought from the AD to contact a Coach. And I never got past page two of the search.

[PK]

there could a Coaches Code of Conduct or some rules of professional responsibility that govern contacts by AD for permission to contact a Coach. I can't find it in the NCAA Rules but most of those deal with the Student Athlete. But when you do a Google search you can find easily find 15-20 instances where permission was sought from the AD to contact a Coach. And I never got past page two of the search.

Perhaps it is like asking your girlfriend's dad for permission to steal his daughter away from him...

[huskerpony]

Just talked to my father who retired as the Sports Editor of the Omaha World Herald a couple of years ago. He said there is no legal requirement to ask permission to speak to a coach. It is merely a convention that is understood among athletic directors and would be considered a huge insult to another athletic director to not do so--and would probably result in that AD never being able to get hired at another school.

That being said, AD's often lie to the media about their being contacted if the season is not over and they want to ward off speculation about their coach, and this is another reason why the coaching search firms are used--all of the details of the contract can be negotiated down to the last detail between the search firm and the agent before official contact is ever made or permission to speak to the coach is asked of the AD. This is how things are able to progress from asking permission to speak to a coach to signing a contract within a 24 hour period.