Gophers paid Lindsay Whalen a ‘termination fee’ of $215K; Whalen declined an opportunity to stay on as a special assistant to Coyle

[BleedGopher]

per PP:

“The Coach ultimately determined that the new position as Special Assistant to the Athletics Director was not in Coach’s best interest, and requested that the University treat the circumstances as a termination without cause under the terms of the Employment Agreement and Termination Fee,” the summary reads. “In accordance with Section 3.2 of the Employment Agreement, the University will provide Coach a one-time, lump-sum payment in the amount of Two Hundred Fifteen Thousand Dollars ($215,000).”

Gophers paid Lindsay Whalen $215K ‘termination fee’

She was fired as University of Minnesota basketball coach in March and no longer works there, according to a settlement report obtained by the Pioneer Press.

www.twincities.com

Go Gophers!!

 

[Holy Man]

This is not good.

 

[GopherJack]

So I'm assuming Lindsay will most likely not be involved in the women's basketball program going forward?

 

[Gopher68]

So I'm assuming Lindsay will most likely not be involved in the women's basketball program going forward?

Not in an official capacity. I think it is probably best for her to step away from the athletic department. Coach P doesn't need the deposed former coach in an athletic department role. I would guess that Lindsay would have felt awkward being there as well.

 

[Ignatius L Hoops]

Lindsay Whalen took $215,000 settlement instead of administrative role with Gophers

University documents show Whalen declined to work as a special assistant to athletic director Mark Coyle in a fundraising role.

www.startribune.com

Whalen Speaks. The STrib has some quotes:

In her only public comments since leaving the university, Whalen said before last Friday's Lynx game that she didn't know what was next for her after coaching the Gophers.

"Obviously, you move on," Whalen said. "There are certain parts that I'll always miss. It's my alma mater. It was tough, no question. I don't know what's next to be honest with you."

When asked if she would consider coaching again, Whalen said not right now but "never say never."

"I'm going to take a little break and a breather here and kind of see what's next," she added. "I don't know. I'm just kind of enjoying time. I've been traveling a little bit. I enjoy being home, kind of being with family and taking care of the dogs. Picking them up and taking them for walks."

 

[TNGophfan]

This is not good.

I think it will be fine. I think most believe she was given appropriate time to lift up the program but ultimately fell short. She will be ok and land on her feet. Too good a person with too much to offer to not have a successful life.

 

[akgo4]

At the time Lindsay took the U job, I'm not sure anybody else wanted that job or could have done better as head coach considering the mess that needed to be cleaned up. In hindsight, would she have benefitted first by being an Assistant - "Sure", but who really wanted that job? They got somebody who represented the U well during her time. She took the PR bumps for her inexperience. At the end of the day, she decided to take her ball and go home. She earned it and we thank her for everything that she has done. The Women's basketball team will be better this year because of more experienced coaching and a natural progression. We are in good shape. Thank-you Coach Whalen !!

 

[Ho Jon]

Umm....

"terminated without cause"

no. What the hell would be terminating someone with cause if not for their performance?

 

[Frink]

Umm....

"terminated without cause"

no. What the hell would be terminating someone with cause if not for their performance?

Pretty sure that in NCAA parlance that means it was for performance not for any sort of rules violations or personal conduct.

 

[mngolf]

And it saved the U money. Drops from $1.1M to $215k.

 

[howeda7]

And it saved the U money. Drops from $1.1M to $215k.

Coyle has his faults, but it appears he's good at getting out of paying buyouts. Pitino got nothing and Lindsey got $215K.

 

[thatjanelpick]

This certainly recasts that press conference where she was supposedly going to speak at, then turned around in the elevator or whatever.

 

[Bad Gopher]

As my wife and I discussed it the other day, I remarked that this is a good time for Lindsay to try and figure out what she wants to do with her life. She's been in somewhat of a scripted life so far: basketball player, then basketball coach when she got the offer from Coyle in the direct wake of her playing career.

The rest of her life will be more self directed. What does she want to do? What will she be good at? She never had a chance to build a coaching capability from the ground up on a solid foundation. It could be that circling back and rebuilding a coaching career is what she wants to do, presumably starting at a lower level of competition and position. But it doens't have to be what she HAS to do.

I suspect she thought about it and concluded that this job in the athletic department will serve as a distraction and delay from her taking her life in the direction she wants to go. She got off the conveyor belt of the scripted life and into the wide open of her new self-directed life. God bless her and best wishes to her.

 

[2nd Degree Gopher]

Umm....

"terminated without cause"

no. What the hell would be terminating someone with cause if not for their performance?

Pretty sure that in NCAA parlance that means it was for performance not for any sort of rules violations or personal conduct.

Yes, in this context "cause" would mean she was terminated for violation of provisions of her contract, not just poor results on the court. Generally, for coaches this means things like NCAA violations, criminal behavior, etc. For athletic directors it can include things like sending co-workers unwanted references to their mega tongues.

 

[SHGopher]

At the time Lindsay took the U job, I'm not sure anybody else wanted that job or could have done better as head coach considering the mess that needed to be cleaned up.

Yes and no agreement. The season before Whalen, Gophers made the NCAA tournament with a strong 11 conference wins regular season. Whalen inherited some good players.

The prior coach Stollings created problems it seems, yes. A Star Teibune article said a player called it an environment of fear. Stollings was fired from her next job for claims of abuse by players.

I think the big picture is that Whalen was a superstar around here and massively boosted the profile. This year's NCAA tournament had major buzz. Well Whalen was that buzz when she came in.

My 2 cents. I think somewhere she has a role She obviously knows a lot about basketball. Maybe a GM or industry executive. Coach although that feels a bit awkward at the moment. Over qualified for some jobs and yet would have been nice to have on her resume a couple assistant jobs first. She deserves more and yet kind of a square peg situation.

 

[BigTenGuy]

Coyle has his faults, but it appears he's good at getting out of paying buyouts. Pitino got nothing and Lindsey got $215K.

$215k is the contractual buyout per the terms of Lindsay’s contract extension. The U did not get out of paying anything under the contract extension, which provided:

3.2.1. The University may terminate this Agreement at any time without cause upon thirty (30) days written notice to Coach. In such event, the University shall pay Coach a Termination Fee for the remaining Term of Employment based upon the following total amount available for each contract year: . . . two hundred fifteen thousand dollars ($215,000) for contract year four (2023-24); and zero dollars ($0) for contract year five (2025-25).

 

[60's Guy]

$215k is the contractual buyout per the terms of Lindsay’s contract extension. The U did not get out of paying anything under the contract extension, which provided:

3.2.1. The University may terminate this Agreement at any time without cause upon thirty (30) days written notice to Coach. In such event, the University shall pay Coach a Termination Fee for the remaining Term of Employment based upon the following total amount available for each contract year: . . . two hundred fifteen thousand dollars ($215,000) for contract year four (2023-24); and zero dollars ($0) for contract year five (2025-25).

However, because she is a legend...Coyle got approval to pay her $547,000 for the next two years to work as a special assistant to the Athletic Director. So, Lindsay did walk away from $800,000 plus dollars by taking the $215,000. (As the story above says)
She does gain the freedom to choose to do anything she wants with her time the next two years.
She did likely have some responsibilities and time commitments to receive the money. Lindsay either has enough money, or enough connections to value either the freedom or the choice to work elsewhere for decent compensation to feel it's a good trade.

 

[Ignatius L Hoops]

The Lindsay Whalen mystery grew more complicated this week

While the Gophers have tried to depict the departure of the legendary former player and head coach as a mutual decision, Whalen's actions suggest that's not the case.

www.startribune.com

Randball with some timing: (It helps explain Whalen's extended silence)

As we learned this week — and I talked about on Friday's Daily Delivery podcast — Whalen ultimately decided not to accept the role as a special assistant helping the U with fundraising and name, image and likeness, opting instead for a $215,000 payout.

Whalen signed that initial agreement on April 6 — more than a month after initial news of her departure and more than two weeks after the Gophers hired Dawn Plitzuweit as their new coach.

 

[60's Guy]

The Lindsay Whalen mystery grew more complicated this week

While the Gophers have tried to depict the departure of the legendary former player and head coach as a mutual decision, Whalen's actions suggest that's not the case.

www.startribune.com

Randball with some timing: (It helps explain Whalen's extended silence)

Definitely seems she feels she was blindsided, and ultimately shocked that she got fired. Coyle referenced some conversations but they must have been pretty non-threatening in nature or absolutely misunderstood by Lindsay because she certainly had no idea termination was coming.
Gotta be tough to deal with knowing you had a nice freshmen group that was improving and things were looking brighter from your perspective until the hammer came down.

 

[GringaGopher]

Yes, that’s where Coyle did a poor job. He had ample time and examples of her teams struggles. He obviously decided to make a change and he should have been discussing that directly with her before the “ mutually “ agreed upon press conference. I will always be a Whalen fan and still believe she might have turned the tide with her current highly recruited class. We saw how all of them decided to stay so they are loyal to MN. Wish her all the best in whatever she decides to do next.

 

[thatjanelpick]

I still think the firing was a premature overreaction to the godawful first 3/4 of the Penn State game in the tournament. That looked like a team whose coach deserved to be canned, until things started looking a lot -- but not enough -- better. I, too, think Whalen deserved more than a year with this class but also think she had not proven herself as a coach in the time she had.

 

[hungan1]

As my wife and I discussed it the other day, I remarked that this is a good time for Lindsay to try and figure out what she wants to do with her life. She's been in somewhat of a scripted life so far: basketball player, then basketball coach when she got the offer from Coyle in the direct wake of her playing career.

The rest of her life will be more self directed. What does she want to do? What will she be good at? She never had a chance to build a coaching capability from the ground up on a solid foundation. It could be that circling back and rebuilding a coaching career is what she wants to do, presumably starting at a lower level of competition and position. But it doens't have to be what she HAS to do.

I suspect she thought about it and concluded that this job in the athletic department will serve as a distraction and delay from her taking her life in the direction she wants to go. She got off the conveyor belt of the scripted life and into the wide open of her new self-directed life. God bless her and best wishes to her.

I agree. Playing professionally and then jumping straight into coaching was very daunting. There is a lot of learning to be a good coach. Most people take the coaching journey starting at the lowest level.

She is a Minnesota icon. That will never change.

Lindsay Whalen, thanks for the memories!

 

[Ignatius L Hoops]

Minnesota paid Whalen buyout after ex-coach opted not to stay in admin role

Lindsay Whalen has decided not to remain in an administrative role at Minnesota following her dismissal as women’s basketball coach.

www.mprnews.org

I agree that "it was in the best interests of the University" and that it remains so.

The release agreement language referred to it as a firing: “The University determined it was in the best interests of the University to make a change to the head coaching position.”

 

[short ornery norwegian]

Whalen will always be a basketball icon in MN. Yes, her coaching tenure at the U of MN did not go as planned. there are lots of examples of great athletes who struggled to adapt to coaching - because playing came so naturally to them, they have a hard time understanding why their players can't do the same.

I could see Whalen getting involved with the Lynx in some fashion going forward.

as far as Coyle - he may be a good administrator and good at the behind-the-scenes stuff, but that man should never be allowed to get in front of a camera or microphone. every time he opens his mouth, he puts his foot in it. this is just another example of how shockingly bad Coyle is when it comes to communicating anything to the public.

 

[MaxyJR1]

This story bugs me. She agreed to the split and to stay on? Then she obviously changed her mind and over time decided she needed a break. This is like the Wolves split with McHale and it's hard to do this to local icons and alumni.

She will have options and I don't think she will have issues with the U. I think Coyle simply moved too fast on the move and needed to allow Whalen to breathe a bit before holding a press conference. He would have been better off not having the presser for a couple more days.

In the end he seems to have gotten a good replacement and everyone should move on. Unfortunately no one will get closure until Whalen sits in front of a microphone. I don't think she is going to change her support of the U over this.

 

[2nd Degree Gopher]

I think Coyle simply moved too fast on the move and needed to allow Whalen to breathe a bit before holding a press conference. He would have been better off not having the presser for a couple more days.

Coyle surely wanted to make and announce the decision quickly to facilitate hiring a replacement. He could "backchannel" all he wanted, but as uncomfortable as I might be with how this story has developed, it would have been ten times worse if it would have leaked that he was inquiring into Whalen's replacement before her separation was announced.

Maybe Coyle should have been able to read Whalen better, but it seems like the way it happened was that:

*he told her they were going in another direction,
*he offered to have her stay on through the term of her contract in another capacity,
*he proposed characterizing the separation as a mutual decision, and
*he asked to announce all of that at a joint press conference.

It seems that Whalen initially agreed to all of that, so they called the presser. Then, on the way up to meet the press, Whalen bailed, ostensibly because she was overcome with emotion, not because she was backing out of the agreement. I suppose that Coyle could have cancelled the conference, but the press was already there and knew the purpose, so he went ahead and (poorly) explained the agreement as he understood it. Not ideal, but I can understand why he wanted to handle it the way he did.