Petrino Must Pay Univ. Of Louisville $1M To End Contract

New Falcons Coach Petrino To Pay UL $1M For Buyout

New Falcons coach Bobby Petrino is required to pay the Univ. of Louisville $1M after a clause included in his $25M contract with the school was triggered because he left his job before the ten-year term of the deal was up, according to Tim Tucker of the ATLANTA CONSTITUTION. UL “didn’t even seek the financial protection of the bouyout clause,” reportedly because of AD Tom Jurich’s “philosophy that he doesn’t want to keep a coach who prefers to be elsewhere, and included it only at Petrino’s request.” The school “did try to build other financial incentives into last summer’s contract, including a $1[M] bonus for Petrino if he were still on the job June 30, 2007, and another $4[M] in similar bonuses spread over the remainder of the deal.” Falcons President & GM Rich McKay said the $1M payment to UL is “something (Petrino) will handle,” but he “acknowledged that Petrino’s cost of leaving Louisville was reflected in the Falcons’ offer.” Petrino signed a five-year, $24M deal with the Falcons (ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 1/9).

BLANK FORM: Read a Q&A with Falcons Owner Arthur Blank on the process that led to Petrino’s hiring.