Sean Miller would not receive more money from the University of Arizona if fired with cause, the school says.
On Friday, news broke that the FBI had evidence on wiretap of Miller discussing a $100,000 payment for recruit Deandre Ayton.
A day later, ESPN’s Darren Rovell made headlines by reporting that Miller would still be paid $10 million even if fired with cause.
If Sean Miller gets fired for cause, the way Arizona has written his deal, he would still get roughly 85% of the money he has remaining ($10.3M out of $12M). That’s a virtually unprecedented take for a for cause firing. Most coaches get $0.
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) February 24, 2018
That was a shocker to many, considering most coaches do not get paid anything if fired with cause.
It turns out that the report stemmed from an error made by an attorney when drafting the contract. University of Arizona Vice President of Communications Chris Sigurdson told KVOA that despite the drafting error, courts would rule in favor of the intent of the contract.
“We recognize there may be some ambiguity in the language of the contract, but Arizona courts look to the intent of the parties, and the intent of the parties in this case is clear. Base Salary and any Additional Compensation are payable only to the date of termination,” Sigurdson told KVOA.
That means Miller would only be paid until the point that he is fired with cause. Of course, if fired, Miller’s representatives could try to challenge the matter in court, or ask for some extra money from the school to pay for the drafting error. They would probably try to get Miller everything they can considering his prospects of getting another high-profile coaching job seem to be over.
