Speaking of buyout clauses, Brian Kelly got a job!

CBS sports analyst. Probably doesn't quite match the $9MM/year that LSU owes him, but will save the Tigers a little money.

The Peeper said:

I think he's a dou-che' bag, but good for him. I can't imagine being owed $54Million by my former employer and even pretending to look for another job though

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He was required to make a good faith effort to find a job or risk losing his buyout

The Peeper said:

Just like "State Unemployment Insurance". The unemployed though know the right companies to go to and get their form signed that says they applied but didn't get hired therefore they continue to keep drawing the max amount of time. There are companies that my employees used to tell me about that if you went to the "right man" would charge you to fill out their form and deny you employment so you could continue to sit on your azz and collect unemployment, all the while working as a day laborer for cash too. Seems as if they worked as hard at a legitimate job as they do to scam the system they would make much more but they aren't interested in a steady job.

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Scamming the system is not "good faith". It is bad faith.

If Kelly had accepted a reduced lump sum payment from LSU, he could be retired on a beach somewhere. He chose to continue his career in football, knowing he will be paid over $750,000 per month as long as he keeps working.

A man with Kelly's credentials will find a football job if he tries in good faith. He could probably find a job if he half-assed it. He doesn't have to take just any job that comes along, but he has to try to continue his career.

Seinfeld said:

Is this something that's somehow mandatory by state law? I'm just trying to figure out why a coach of Kelly's caliber would've ever agreed to this in his contract

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Its kind of standard, really, especially when the buyout is 100% of your remaining salary. Jimbo Fisher and Billy Napier did not have offsets from future employment, but they only received about 80% of their remaining salary.

The buyout clause is really a liquidated damages clause to avoid litigation. The parties agree that if LSU terminates the contract early, then Brian Kelly is due monetary compensation to make him whole. In this case they agreed he could keep drawing his remaining 6 years of salary.

But, generally, everyone has a legal duty to mitigate their own damages, that is, you take reasonable steps to reduce your own financial loss. If a contractor damages your roof, you don't let it rain in your house and expect the contractor to pay for all the damage...you put up a tarp or something.

In employment law, if someone is wrongfully terminated they cant just sit at home and wait for their fat pay check to keep coming. They have to take reasonable steps to find comparable employment and mitigate their own losses. If the person does not take another job, their judgment might be reduced by the amount they could have earned.

That's what is happening here...LSU says it will continue to pay the agreed upon salary, but it will be offset by whatever Kelly earns elsewhere. And Kelly has to make a good faith effort to find something.

James Franklin had similar terms. When PSU fired him, he was due $49 MM over 7 years. When Franklin was about to take the Virginia Tech job, he accepted a $9 MM lump sum from PSU.