Bobby Petrino will not contest his dismissal or seek any of the $18 million buyout clause from his contract, Petrino's agent Russ Campbell said in an email to athletic director Jeff Long late Thursday evening.
Petrino was fired for cause after he used his position as head football coach to hire his mistress, Jessica Dorrell, for the position of student-athlete development coordinator. Dorrell was hired over 158 other applicants, including Benjamin Wilkerson, a former LSU offensive lineman who had endorsements from LSU coach Les Miles, Alabama coach Nick Saban, Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher, Florida coach Will Muschamp and Tennessee coach Derek Dooley.
Per his contract, Petrino had five days from the date of his dismissal to dispute the firing in writing. However, according to the Associated Press, Petrino accepted ''responsibility for the events that led to the university's decision to terminate his contract.''
[ Eric Adelson: Firing Bobby Petrino wasn't easy but was the right move ]
On Friday, the school released Long's letter to Petrino, which outlined some of those events. In it, Long described some of the frustrations he shared during his press conference Tuesday.
"(Y)ou deliberately failed to tell me that you had engaged in an extramarital affair with Ms. Dorrell over a period of several months leading up to your recommendation to hire her,'' Long wrote. ''If you had been forthcoming with me about the true nature of your relationship, I would not have approved the hiring." ...
The athletic director ripped Petrino for ''poor judgment'' and said that by lying to his boss and the public he had left the school with the task of ''restoring the reputation of our institution and our athletics programs.'' ...
"I recognize that you are a very talented football coach,'' Long wrote, ''but the university may not disregard your conduct or sacrifice its integrity, reputation and principles."
The letter also mentioned the $20,000 "gift" Petrino gave to Dorrell when she was first hired. The money came out of Petrino's personal account and Dorrell used it to buy a black Acura.
"Among other concerns relating to this 'gift,' you should have disclosed this fact to me ... but you failed to do so," Long wrote.
Dorrell was placed on paid leave Friday.
- - -
"Like" Dr. Saturday on Facebook for football conversations and stuff you won't see on the blog. And follow Dr. Saturday at its new home on Twitter: @YahooDrSaturday
Related video on Yahoo! Sports
Other popular content on Yahoo! Sports:
? Rivals.com Position U.: Where NFL QBs are made | Video: Trojans top list
? Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen's comments hit home for Felo Ramirez
? Warren Sapp filed for bankruptcy to avoid going to jail
No comments:
Post a Comment