You might think the Hamilton Tiger-Cats are the only team in the CFL the way this week is going. Never would anyone have ever guessed we’d be discussing an 0-8 CFL team this much in one week when this site was launched. Yet, here we are once again discussing a troubling headline for the CFL franchise.
Cornell University is suing the Hamilton Tiger-Cats over the contract of former head coach Kent Austin, who is now the vice president of football operations for the Ticats. Cornell claims Austin owes the school over $100,000 (plus interest) for leaving his contract as head coach for another job prior to the expiration of the contract. Austin left Cornell to take the Hamilton job in 2012, and his Cornell contract ran through January 2015.
Further complicating the legal issue is the sale of Austin’s former home near Cornell’s campus. Austin reportedly sold his house for $630,000 to recoup his initial purchase price, but the house was allegedly purchased by Hamilton Ticats owner Robert Young. Young has since sold the home at a loss.
As reported by the Cornell Sun;
Austin ultimately broke even on the Cayuga Heights house, selling it in April 2016 for the same price he paid — $630,000 — although the sale raises more questions than answers.
The buyer, listed on the deed as HTCFC, Inc., appears to be a parent company for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats — Austin’s employer. The incorporation is a North Carolina business corporation formed in 2003 whose president is Robert Young, owner of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, according to documents filed with the North Carolina Secretary of State.
Less than eight months after making the purchase, HTCFC sold the Cayuga Heights property at a loss of $170,000 to a man from West Palm Beach, Florida, deeds show.
It has been quite the week for Hamilton. The week got off on a weird foot when the team announced the hiring of former Baylor head coach Art Briles, which was then quickly wiped away by the league stepping in to prevent the hire from happening at all. And just earlier today we discussed the Ticats exploring the possibility of adding Johnny Manziel to the roster. Tune in tomorrow for whatever the Ticats are caught in the middle of, because you just never know where this franchise will be going next, it seems.
