Penn State is suing former defensive coordinator Bob Shoop, now at Tennessee, in hopes of recouping nearly $900,000 in a breach of contract claim, according to The Morning Call.
Shoop left Penn State to become Tennessee’s defensive coordinator after the 2015 season, in January 2016. According to Penn State’s claim, Shoop was responsible for paying Penn State back half of his remaining base salary from his former contract at Penn State (which was good until February 2018) if he did not become a head coach within a year after his departure from State College. On top of that, Penn State is also seeking lost interest and court costs. For a university still feeling an economic impact from another former defensive coordinator (for very different reasons), it makes sense Penn State would want to make sure it gets every penny it can.
Seeing as Shoop is preparing for his second season in charge of the Vols defense, it would seem Penn State has a legitimate claim on its hands. Shoop, as you might expect, does not not feel the need to pay back Penn State a dime.
Once Shoop was settled in as Tennessee’s defensive coordinator in January, Penn State reached out to Shoop about that buyout money. Shoop reportedly ignored it and moved on. Penn State later reached out again to Shoop to notify him they were filing a claim in April in a county court to come to a resolution. Shoop dismissed the idea and filed to have the case taken up a level to a federal court. And here we are today.
On Monday, the case was formally filed with a U.S. District Court in Pennsylvania, as both Penn State and Shoop are appearing ready to dig in and duke it out in the court system. But does Shoop have any case to be made?
If Penn State’s claim about the buyout terms is legitimate, it looks to be an open-and-shut case in favor of Penn State against the former Nittany Lions defensive coordinator. Shoop did not become a head coach within a year after leaving the program, thus technically making this a lateral move from Penn State to Tennessee. And don’t count on Tennessee helping Shoop out too much. Upon his hiring, Tennessee’s contract with Shoop made it clear he would be responsible for any money owed to Penn State.
Cases like these are not uncommon with assistant coaches and their previous employers, and the odds this ends with a negotiated settlement are probably pretty good. But for the time being, the legal battle is officially on.
