Update on the $400k JJ contract termination dispute

About his verbal agreement with HF, Leigh Steinberg said:
"There was an explicit agreement between June and Herman Frazier on behalf of the University of Hawaii ... that after three years June would be able to accept another job opportunity without penalty. These oral agreements are quite common in the field of sports and always honored." (HSB)

HSB Note: "An e-mail written by then-Hawaii athletic director Herman Frazier last December acknowledged a spoken agreement that football coach June Jones would not have to pay a penalty of $400,008 if he left UH before the end of his contract, sources told the Star-Bulletin. But while that may indicate Frazier was willing to let Jones go without a buyout, language in the contract indicates it doesn't meet the standard needed to change the deal. According to paragraph 17.0 of the contract, "This Agreement contains all the terms between the parties and may be amended only in writing signed by both parties." The e-mail in question was sent by Frazier to Jones' agent, Leigh Steinberg, on Dec. 24, two weeks before Jones resigned from UH to be the coach at SMU. Steinberg said Frazier orally agreed to the arrangement when the five-year contract was being put together in 2003."

About how JJ could have made more money if he wasn't so concerned about helping UH, Steinberg said:
"June went above and beyond what I've ever seen a coach do in terms of his foundation and personal dedication to attempting to enhance the financial situation of the Hawaii athletic department. (Around 2006) he offered at mid-contract to reduce his own pay by $300,000, and give 40 percent of his salary to the university for coaches salaries and facility improvement and extend his term. That offer was refused. His own financial welfare has never been his primary concern." (HSB)

Asked if SMU is not interested in scheduling UH due to the contract dispute with JJ, JD said:
"You could get that impression." (HA)

HA Note: "Is the ongoing dispute over the $400,008 that the University of Hawai'i claims former football coach June Jones owes the Warriors standing in the way of booking a UH-Southern Methodist showdown? It doesn't take much reading between the lines to come to that conclusion. On one hand we have UH asking the Mustangs if they'd be interested in playing in 2009 or 2010, the first two seasons the Warriors have an opening. On the other, UH athletic director Jim Donovan said the Warriors were told by SMU, "our schedule is full for the next 10 years." "

HA Note: "By why not take this out of the hands of the lawyers and settle it on the field, where it belongs? Forget arbitration and make it winner-take-all. Here's how you settle it. Square off at Aloha Stadium in a 2009 game with added incentive the kind of reality challenge college football has never seen: If UH wins, Jones pays up at midfield after the game with one of those 5-foot cardboard checks. If SMU prevails, Jones gets to tear up the contract at midfield. Think that would pack the stands and grab TV's attention?"

HA Note: "Donovan said UH has "initiated conversations with four schools" that McMackin expressed an interest in about the 2009 opening. Other than SMU, he declined to name the others except to say "some are Bowl Championship Series (members)." "