Speaking of assistant coaches' contracts,

by Jujdog on Dec 10, 2009 4:35 PM EST

T. Kyle, as a lawyer, you have probably run into situations involving employment contracts involving "covenants not to compete" in various areas such as physicians, salesmen, researchers, etc. Are such "covenants" used in coaching contracts, particularly assistant coaches? And, if not, why not? It would seem as reasonable in this area as in the area of doctors, for example. In Georgia, I think such restrictions are valid if reasonable in terms of area, duration, duties, etc. In other words, you cannot keep a doctor from practicing throughout the state of Georgia if he practiced only in Macon for the practice seeking to prohibit him/her from competing with his old job. Why not keep an assistant from recruiting in the area he was designated for College X if he bots to College Y__at least for a few years? And, why not keep an assistant from coaching in the same division of the SEC for a period of 2 years or so? These things may be done now. I just don't know.

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That's an interesting point

I’ve seen some head coaches’ contracts (many of which have been posted on the internet), but I’ve never seen an assistant coach’s contract.

Mark Richt’s contract clearly doesn’t contain such language, and Tommy Tuberville’s and Houston Nutt’s contracts with Ole Miss and Arkansas, respectively, obviously didn’t, since both bolted from one SEC West school directly to another. (Nick Saban and Steve Spurrier both took jobs at rival schools in their old divisions, but both did so following two-year stints in the NFL.)

Given the level of cross-pollination within the SEC, I’d be surprised if any such restrictions routinely appeared in assistants’ contracts. When Lane Kiffin was hired as the head coach at Tennessee, he hired or tried to hire many assistant coaches who already worked at SEC rival schools, and I never heard a news report suggesting that any contractual provisions impeded those coaches’ ability to bolt for Knoxville or to ~~commit secondary violations~~ recruit without restrictions when they got there. No news report I have seen suggests that Kirby Smart’s current contract at Alabama would make it problematic for him to work at an SEC school in an adjacent state.

My gut reaction—-and it’s just a gut reaction—-is that sports agents would strongly resist this in assistant coaches’ contracts, even more so than in head coaches’ contracts, because head coaches sign multi-year deals and increasingly have two-way buyout clauses (i.e., the head coach owes the school money if he leaves before the end of the contract term and the school owes the head coach money if he is terminated other than for cause before the end of the contract term).

Assistant coaches’ contracts, though, usually are one-year deals that do not involve the sorts of substantial buyout clauses appearing in head coaches’ contracts. If I were representing an assistant coach who was asked to sign a contract forbidding him from recruiting a particular area or working for a division rival for two years after he left the employ of his current school, I would argue that the contract should be for a multi-year term and involve guaranteed money if he’s fired. If an assistant’s future options are limited by his contract, it’s reasonable for him to expect that his contract will protect him for a term equal to the period during which his choices are restricted. If a fellow isn’t fully free to ply his trade wherever he wants, he’ll want to get paid for curtailing his own options.

To some extent, of course, that would vary from coach to coach. For instance, Willie Martinez’s playing and coaching career has involved extensive experience at non-SEC schools in Florida and in the MAC, whereas Mike Bobo’s playing and coaching career has been exclusively at Georgia except for a single season at Jacksonville State. Had both of the Bulldogs’ 2009 coordinators been asked to sign contracts limiting their ability to coach in the SEC East or recruit within a certain radius of Athens, Coach Bobo’s future employment prospects likely would be significantly more curtailed than Coach Martinez’s. Willie, theoretically, could go back to Coral Gables or the Midwest, but Mike has no ties outside the Southeast and, therefore, would be far more hampered by such a clause.

It’s an interesting legal question, to which my answer is entirely speculative. Does anyone know whether assistant coaches’ contracts typically contain such provisions?

Go 'Dawgs!

by T Kyle King on Dec 10, 2009 9:13 PM EST reply actions

FWIW

I agree with Kyle. It would be perfectly legal to include a non-compete clause in any coach’s contract. The chances of getting a coach to sign such a contract and the chances of making such a clause a deal-breaker, however, are slim to none. I think it simply wouldn’t make sense in this industry.

by NCT on Dec 12, 2009 2:51 AM EST up reply actions

Before the days of $900,000 coordinators and "coaches in waiting",

I think covenants not to compete were not considered necessary. On the other hand, when you’re paying somebody about a million a year, you should get some protection from going to your arch rival. Just my opinion.

by Jujdog on Dec 12, 2009 8:03 AM EST reply actions

Tricky Issue

One of the main policies against noncompetes is that a customer has the right to the service of his choice. As the story goes, most customers would pick the “best” service and should be free to select it, meaning that they should be able to recieve solicitation from the best providers of a given product or service. We enforce a limitation on a provider’s right to compete narrowly, and for a short time, out of deference not only to the providers’ interest in his business, but also because of the customer’s interest. The prior firm’s interest is cognizable, but is beset by stronger interests.

In recruiting, the customers are kids picking a college. If a coordinator had a relationship with a kid before changing from one school to another, that kid may have a desire to play for that coach. It’s tough to limit that kid’s choice (or his cousin’s choice, as the case may be) of schools because one school hired a coordinator from another school.

I’m not saying that a coordinator’s non-compete relating to recruiting would be per se illegal, but I would rather be on the side challenging it than the side charged with drafting and enforcing it.

by first and thom on Dec 14, 2009 11:09 AM EST reply actions