Photo by Saul Young
Dave Serrano talks to members of the media after he was introduced as Tennessee's new head baseball coach during a press conference on Thursday, June 16, 2011 at Lyndsey Nelson Stadium.
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Much like the one recently drafted for new men’s basketball coach Cuonzo Martin, new Tennessee baseball coach Dave Serrano’s Memorandum of Understanding takes a hard-line stance when it pertains to NCAA violations.
Serrano, who assumed his position last week, can be fired with cause if he or members of his yet-to-be-named coaching staff engage in “significant or repetitive violation(s) of NCAA rules,” according to the document, which the News Sentinel obtained Tuesday through a public records request.
“The phrase ‘significant or repetitive violations’ shall mean any major violation of one or more NCAA rules or multiple secondary violations of one or more NCAA rules considered collectively to be a major violation,” the document reads.
Under the same umbrella, there also is a clause that channels the recent downfall of Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel, who recently resigned after a scandal that began with his withholding information of potential violations.
The failure of Serrano to “report immediately to the Vice Chancellor for Athletics . . . or the Associate Athletics Director for Compliance any actual knowledge of or reasonable cause to believe that violations of NCAA, SEC or University rules or regulations have been committed or are being committed by himself or others” could also result in a termination with cause.
If Serrano is fired with cause, the university is not liable for any payments or benefits owed to him.
Serrano, who is slated to earn $450,000 annually and is signed through June 2016, would be owed 60 percent of his guaranteed income between the date of termination and the end of the contract if he is fired without cause. Serrano’s predecessor, Todd Raleigh, will receive all of what he was guaranteed over the remainder of his contract ($331,658) through June 2012.
Serrano would receive his buyout in equal installments over a 36-month period — no matter the remaining length of the contract. While he receives those payments, Serrano is required to use his “reasonable best efforts” to find another job.
Potential clauses to mitigate what UT would owe Serrano if he quickly found a new job likely will be hashed out in his full-length contract.
If Serrano resigns or leaves for another job before June 15, 2014, he would owe UT two times his annual guaranteed compensation. If he resigns or leaves after June 15, 2014, but before the end of his contract, Serrano would owe UT one year’s worth of his annual guaranteed compensation.
If Serrano guides the Vols to an NCAA Regional, something the team hasn’t done since 2005, he will receive a bonus of 4 percent of his annual base salary. Serrano’s base salary is currently $275,000.
He will receive an 8 percent bonus if the Vols advance to a NCAA Super Regional; a 16 percent bonus for winning the SEC regular-season championship, SEC tournament championship or for advancing to the College World Series; and a 24 percent bonus for winning the NCAA championship.
Serrano would have to remain the coach of the team through September of the selected year to qualify for whichever bonuses he earns.
Taking over a program that recently recovered from a battle with poor Academic Progress Rate scores, Serrano also can cash in by helping the team maintain its place above the NCAA minimum score of 925.
Effective after the 2011-12 academic year, Serrano would receive $10,000 if the baseball program notches a one-year score of 925 or higher; $20,000 for 935 or higher; or $30,000 for 950 or higher.
In Serrano’s final two years at Cal State Fullerton, his teams notched back-to-back scores of 939.
Serrano will be provided one loaned vehicle through the Athletic Department’s Courtesy Vehicle Program and will receive a moving allowance of $25,000, per university policy.
Andrew Gribble may be reached at 865-342-6327. Follow him at http://twitter.com/Andrew_Gribble and http://blogs.knoxnews.com/gribble
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Comments » 27
dvols writes:
#1 its a college baseball coach
#2 What the H> Memorandums of Understanding??????????????
WHAT??????????????????????/
HallowedHill writes:
Serrano seems like a great catch.
Go VOLS!
RoadTrip writes:
Baseball is about to become an income generator for the UTAD. Fan support will increase dramtically in the coming years.
sol_way writes:
i guess in light of Kiffin and Pearl this is a no brainer, has Joan written all over it. She would be a good A D. JMO
thevoice writes:
I agree. Just wonder what kind of car he receives.
VolsToTheWall writes:
if i'm not mistaken, the one kiffin wrecked with 2 chicks in it.
BodeaneVol writes:
When you move so quickly and you can't properly vet a prospect this is the only thing you can do to protect yourself.
bspurlingcac#225603 writes:
What is the price of a UT baseball ticket? They have about 35 home games and seat a max of 3800. If they sell out at $10 per ticket they would bring in around $1,300,000 on tickets alone.
allntl1#565211 writes:
Sounds like these coaches are going to have to live in the real world like the rest of us. Fired for just cause, no pay.
easleychuck writes:
This is just common sense. Should be standard with any coach's contract at any university or college.
Good luck, Dave.
stumpyb writes:
sad that the new coaches even before they coach a game have to pay the price for the actions of the previous one. It is not fair. If this is the way UT is going then they should re write every contract they have now or they will be dealing with double standards with coaches and if a female coach contract is not like this then it is being discriminitory.
nwcs writes:
An Memorandum of Understanding is like an early draft of a contract. Enough to work off of and be paid for but not the final form of a contract. It usually precedes a contract so the worker can get to work and be paid while the final contract is being negotiated. Pretty common.
NeylandWest writes:
Basically, a Memorandum of Understanding implies that the parties involved have come to terms of an agreement and will abide by them as if they were contractually binding...because they are.
Once the attorneys and agents apply their legal wording and amend the Memo to include any new verbiage, then we'll have a binding contract.
In a simplified version, a Memo can be something written in short hand and presented to a party on something as simple as a napkin or as fancy as a sheet of paper. Once all obligated parties sign it, it's an officially binding contract.
Hope this helps.
NYvolFan writes:
I am just wondering how long it will take Dave to convert his lefty CA driver's license to a righty TN license. Better not be a switch-hitter because finally it appears that our UTAD contracts have some legs for anyone attempting to pull a Kiffin.
us43137415#376444 writes:
Wrong.
Wrong guess, wrong comment.
I have seen the contract (you can, too), and comparing it to the previous contracts, this is a standard basic college coach's contract, that has been modified to include some of the new NCAA things that slapped Tennessee, Ohio State, North Carolina, USC and other schools recently.
Those were minor additions to the contract, anyway.
UT has blank contracts sitting in a file waiting to be pulled up for use, with the salaries and the terms to be added (takes about 10 minutes), and the other language (takes about 30 minutes).
There was nothing rushed up about this contract, and nowhere does it reflect negatively about the school, the new coach, the old coach, or the current program.
GO VOLS, despite your negativity.
VolNExile writes:
Weren't the same provisions in CCM's contract? Pretty much, anyway:
http://www.govolsxtra.com/news/2011/m...
Thank the Lord someone in the AD has learned how to write employment contracts.
The_Real_Orange writes:
Guess its just the state of the programs. UF doesn't put anything in the contracts of their coaches to penalize them if they were to choose to leave. Pay the coaches good and if they don't want to be there anymore, do you really want them to stay?
givehim6 writes:
Sounds to me UT in really series about running a clean program.
RockyMountainVol writes:
Guess again, Bucky. It took all of fifteen seconds to find out that Muschump has a $500,000 buyout clause:
http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/20...
I'm sure if you researched it, you'd find others, but quite frankly, it's not worth my effort. Once a Gator fan's ignorance is shown, once again, there's no need to continue.
RockyMountainVol writes:
Awww, heck, why not? 20 more seconds yielded the fact that Billy Donovan also has a $500,000 buyout clause:
http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/20...
But that's it: I'm not looking for FU's tiddlywinks coach's buyout clause.
Rich_Is_Re-born writes:
This is just AWESOME!!! We are about to be nasty in baseball.
OwensboroVol writes:
This is "bs" for the Coach. The one thing this old man has learned from the incidents at Tennessee during the past 2-3 years is that the NCAA rule book is so out of date and unrealistic that any coach making any attempt to recruit players is going to end up violating many of these minor rules. I have to laugh at the term minor rules infraction. These are the rules that just about all coaches have started completely ignoring. If they have any chance of recruiting a player they have to do what everyone else does. I think it is just a way that Tennessee can get out from under a coaches contract, because there isn't anyway they can get around it.
OwensboroVol writes:
You are sooooooo right! The NCAA rule book is so out of date and crazy. Minor Infractions? Why do you have a rule where when someone violates, the Coach notifies the School (If their thinking straight) and they notify the NCAA and everything is OK. The Rules need to be rewritten, updated, and made where they make some sense. This deal of bumping is a minor violation, but because the NCAA wanted Bruce Pearl to lose his job they wrote it up as a Major Violation. (I believe this one will be dropped if there is any justice at all) The rules need to be rewritten taking any loopholes or leeway out of them. Something must be done. If this is not done, the NCAA is heading down a one way street.
The_Real_Orange writes:
I love how everybody complains about the NCAA rules. The schools are the ones that make the rules. You can complain about the way they are enforced, but if the schools didn't want these rules, they would change them. All these rules are in place to try to keep the playing field level. Coaches will always push the rules on recruiting because of the pressure to win and win big. Just sayin....
RockyMountainVol writes:
I myself love how guys like FlaOrang can troll Tennessee sites, trying to stir up sh*t with lies, and then totally ignore it when called out.
FlaOrang, you claimed that Florida didn't have buyout clauses for their coaches because their coaches loved to coach at Florida... but you now have links to show that that claim of yours was totally bogus. Nothing to say? Change the subject?
Figures. The "work" of a chump/troll.
TKO writes:
I'm surprised he is not paid more. Hopefully if he produces, he will get a bump and an extension.
Good luck Coach Serrano.
RockyMountainVol writes:
I have to say it: I miss FutureCoach. More than a week before TR got canned, he disappeared, after years of defending TR as the best coach ever.
Skippy, please send us a sign. Please tell us you're OK, and that you've not locked yourself in TR's basement.
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