Adam Loewy is one of the top personal injury lawyers in Austin. Adam is a proud graduate of the University of Texas School of Law and started his law firm in 2005. Adam helps people who have been injured in car crashes, slip and falls, dog bites, and other assorted ways. He is actively involved in every case he handles and is always available to talk or text. If you or a loved one has been injured, call the Loewy Law Firm today at (512) 280-0800.
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The role of “The Sunday Pulpit” will be played today by the understudy, Travis Galey. There will be no refunds.
Following Alabama’s loss to Michigan in the Rose Bowl this past January, Nick Saban went to his Jupiter Island, Florida home and started asking former colleagues such as Bill Parcells, Mark Dantonio and Gene Stallings about how they handled retirement.
It’s a pretty natural question for people to start asking when you’re 72 years old … even if the thought of Nick Saban retiring seems unnatural. I mean, most Alabamans probably thought he would stay in the job until the day he died. After all, he was coming off yet another college football playoff appearance and he had a team built to make another run at it in 2024.
“I thought we could have a hell of a team next year,” Saban told ESPN’s Chris Low. “Then maybe 70 or 80 percent of the players you talk to, all they want to know is two things: What assurances do I have that I’m going to play because they’re thinking about transferring, and how much are you going to pay me?”
Saban, despite that quote, insists NIL and the transfer portal are not the reasons he decided to hit the beach.
“I just never wanted to see the program go down,” Saban told Fox News’ Brett Baier. “I felt whether it was recruiting or hiring coaches and people wanting to know how long you’re going to be there. When you get to 72 years old, it gets harder and harder to promise people you’re gonna be there for four or five more years.
“I loved coaching. We adapted well to the system. At Alabama, we were one of the ‘haves’ in this new, current system even though I see some serious problems with it moving forward in the future.”
The system Saban left behind in January has changed – once again – and the stresses on college football coaches are only ramping up.
"The most difficult job in all team sports is being head football coach at a major university," long-time agent Leigh Steinberg told CBS Sports. "Think about how they have to recruit 17-year-old talent, project where they're going to be. There is NIL to deal with. … You have to deal with administration, alums, the press. There are whole levels of complication a pro coach doesn't have to deal with."
That may explain why this offseason we saw Jeff Hafley walk away from his head coaching gig at Boston College to become a defensive coordinator with the Green Bay Packers. Or Chip Kelley quit as the UCLA head coach to become the offensive coordinator at Ohio State.
“You know the risks of what happens if you lose games,” said Mark Wilhelm, an attorney who has studied NCAA issues. “You know the risks of what happens if you have student athletes who don't live up to the conduct standards of the university. I don't know how many people were actually thinking about, what happens if an NIL deal goes bad from a coaching perspective?”
We’re about to find out.
University of Georgia quarterback Jaden Rashada filed a lawsuit last Tuesday against the University of Florida football coach Billy Napier, a former football staffer and a top UF booster. Rashada is seeking in excess of 10 million dollars in damages after his NIL deal with Florida’s collective fell apart.
Napier found himself on the business end of the lawsuit for a conversation he is alleged to have had with Rashada where he promised $1 million to sign with UF on national signing day and vouched for the booster’s ability to come through with the money.
“I imagine that there are a lot of coaches around the country right now, or thinking back on all of the conversations that they've had over the last three to five years saying, ‘Are there any student athletes who might be unhappy with me for whatever reason, and would have a similar sort of claim,’” said Wilhelm. “If I was a coach, this is the thing that would be my number one concern on a day to day basis. Certainly running a program, recruiting, all of those things are probably going to come first, but for me personally, this is what's going to keep me up at night.”
Wilhelm, who worked with the basketball staff at the University of Michigan as an undergraduate, said recruiting could land coaches hot legal water, without even knowing it.
“There are a bunch of coaches who are doing their best to meet student athletes where they are right? They're texting them, they're on social media, they're having these informal conversations because in order to be an effective recruiter, you have to do all of those things,” said Wilhelm. “But the problem is that when you get into the strict legal stuff, you could accidentally form a contract over a text message. And if you do that, you could have hundreds of thousands or potentially millions of dollars of liability from a couple text messages when I don't think that coaches expect that that's what they're doing.”
The University of Florida’s University Athletic Association is paying for Napier’s lawyer, but that doesn’t mean they will cover the damages if he loses the case or settles. That means Napier may end up paying out of his own pocket.
I also don’t know if UF will continue to cover his attorney fees if he gets fired before the case is settled or comes to a conclusion – which remains a distinct possibility.
The Gators are 11-14 during Napier’s first two years and it will be hard to turn things around in 2024. Florida has Texas, Georgia, LSU, Tennessee, Ole Miss and Florida State on the schedule. Graham Mertz is back at quarterback but the transfer from Wisconsin has only been ok, at best, in his collegiate career. The offense lost Trevor Etienne, Ricky Pearsall and three offensive linemen from last year’s squad. On defense, the Gators have been among the worst in the SEC during Napier’s tenure.
This is going to be a trying year for Napier.
Look, Napier has a seven year, $58.1 million contract so you shouldn’t shed any tears for him. No matter what happens, he’ll be ok. But coaches around the country are closely following this situation (or they should be).
Being a college coach is already hard enough without having to worry about landing yourself in a lawsuit over a botched NIL deal. It’s something NFL coaches don’t have to worry about … which is why college coaches are taking more chances to jump to the NFL, even if it means a lower job title and pay.
FUNNIEST THINGS YOU WILL SEE THIS WEEK:
The congregation at the Sunday Pulpit is, shall we say, diverse?
Nature is freaking amazing.
This dude is lucky to be alive.
I’m pretty sure I’ve seen this in t-ball.
Sometimes you just have to let your fairy princess out.
SPORTS ON A DIME:
That’s how you do it!
The Texas Longhorn softball team suffered a stunning loss to the 16 seed Texas A&M Aggies Friday night. Then they needed extra innings to defeat the Aggies on Saturday afternoon. That sets up a pivotal game three today.
Softball is growing in popularity and with games like these, it’s no wonder.
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Texas baseball was the last team to wrap up its Big 12 journey. The ending wasn't great, but that doesn't diminish the dominance that UT athletics has had over the Big 12.
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I am not sure if these guys will end up being any kind of impact players or not. But I do think it’s very cool they’ll be able to continue their football careers playing together.
#############################
I can’t tell you how excited I am to see Jaydon Blue get regular carries in 2024. He has a chance to be special.
#############################
The future is bright.
#############################
Xavier Worthy’s NFL Combine 40 yard dash record may not last long.
#############################
Far be it for me to question Lance Leipold after all that he has been able to accomplish, but this just feels like a mistake. I never really understand why coaches give up doing the thing that made them a success in the first place.
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Anyone not cheering for Birmingham Southern in the D3 College World Series just doesn’t have a heart. You’ve probably already heard that the school is closing this week. And no, I don’t mean just closing for the summer break or anything like that, I mean shutting down permanently. That means the baseball team will be competing for a national championship AFTER they no longer have a school.
If that wasn’t tough enough, the team had a pretty rough go of things off the field as they battled Denison University in the Super Regional.
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This is something that I really hadn’t thought about, but I do think it’s pretty smart.
Of course, given the column above, I would also want to include a clause that the university had to cover any legal expenses and damages from lawsuits surrounding NIL deals.
#############################
Finally, I hope you all have an incredible Memorial Day weekend. We are all blessed to live in the land of the free – but that freedom was paid for.
###############################
The role of “The Sunday Pulpit” will be played today by the understudy, Travis Galey. There will be no refunds.
Following Alabama’s loss to Michigan in the Rose Bowl this past January, Nick Saban went to his Jupiter Island, Florida home and started asking former colleagues such as Bill Parcells, Mark Dantonio and Gene Stallings about how they handled retirement.
It’s a pretty natural question for people to start asking when you’re 72 years old … even if the thought of Nick Saban retiring seems unnatural. I mean, most Alabamans probably thought he would stay in the job until the day he died. After all, he was coming off yet another college football playoff appearance and he had a team built to make another run at it in 2024.
“I thought we could have a hell of a team next year,” Saban told ESPN’s Chris Low. “Then maybe 70 or 80 percent of the players you talk to, all they want to know is two things: What assurances do I have that I’m going to play because they’re thinking about transferring, and how much are you going to pay me?”
Saban, despite that quote, insists NIL and the transfer portal are not the reasons he decided to hit the beach.
“I just never wanted to see the program go down,” Saban told Fox News’ Brett Baier. “I felt whether it was recruiting or hiring coaches and people wanting to know how long you’re going to be there. When you get to 72 years old, it gets harder and harder to promise people you’re gonna be there for four or five more years.
“I loved coaching. We adapted well to the system. At Alabama, we were one of the ‘haves’ in this new, current system even though I see some serious problems with it moving forward in the future.”
The system Saban left behind in January has changed – once again – and the stresses on college football coaches are only ramping up.
"The most difficult job in all team sports is being head football coach at a major university," long-time agent Leigh Steinberg told CBS Sports. "Think about how they have to recruit 17-year-old talent, project where they're going to be. There is NIL to deal with. … You have to deal with administration, alums, the press. There are whole levels of complication a pro coach doesn't have to deal with."
That may explain why this offseason we saw Jeff Hafley walk away from his head coaching gig at Boston College to become a defensive coordinator with the Green Bay Packers. Or Chip Kelley quit as the UCLA head coach to become the offensive coordinator at Ohio State.
“You know the risks of what happens if you lose games,” said Mark Wilhelm, an attorney who has studied NCAA issues. “You know the risks of what happens if you have student athletes who don't live up to the conduct standards of the university. I don't know how many people were actually thinking about, what happens if an NIL deal goes bad from a coaching perspective?”
We’re about to find out.
University of Georgia quarterback Jaden Rashada filed a lawsuit last Tuesday against the University of Florida football coach Billy Napier, a former football staffer and a top UF booster. Rashada is seeking in excess of 10 million dollars in damages after his NIL deal with Florida’s collective fell apart.
Napier found himself on the business end of the lawsuit for a conversation he is alleged to have had with Rashada where he promised $1 million to sign with UF on national signing day and vouched for the booster’s ability to come through with the money.
“I imagine that there are a lot of coaches around the country right now, or thinking back on all of the conversations that they've had over the last three to five years saying, ‘Are there any student athletes who might be unhappy with me for whatever reason, and would have a similar sort of claim,’” said Wilhelm. “If I was a coach, this is the thing that would be my number one concern on a day to day basis. Certainly running a program, recruiting, all of those things are probably going to come first, but for me personally, this is what's going to keep me up at night.”
Wilhelm, who worked with the basketball staff at the University of Michigan as an undergraduate, said recruiting could land coaches hot legal water, without even knowing it.
“There are a bunch of coaches who are doing their best to meet student athletes where they are right? They're texting them, they're on social media, they're having these informal conversations because in order to be an effective recruiter, you have to do all of those things,” said Wilhelm. “But the problem is that when you get into the strict legal stuff, you could accidentally form a contract over a text message. And if you do that, you could have hundreds of thousands or potentially millions of dollars of liability from a couple text messages when I don't think that coaches expect that that's what they're doing.”
The University of Florida’s University Athletic Association is paying for Napier’s lawyer, but that doesn’t mean they will cover the damages if he loses the case or settles. That means Napier may end up paying out of his own pocket.
I also don’t know if UF will continue to cover his attorney fees if he gets fired before the case is settled or comes to a conclusion – which remains a distinct possibility.
The Gators are 11-14 during Napier’s first two years and it will be hard to turn things around in 2024. Florida has Texas, Georgia, LSU, Tennessee, Ole Miss and Florida State on the schedule. Graham Mertz is back at quarterback but the transfer from Wisconsin has only been ok, at best, in his collegiate career. The offense lost Trevor Etienne, Ricky Pearsall and three offensive linemen from last year’s squad. On defense, the Gators have been among the worst in the SEC during Napier’s tenure.
This is going to be a trying year for Napier.
Look, Napier has a seven year, $58.1 million contract so you shouldn’t shed any tears for him. No matter what happens, he’ll be ok. But coaches around the country are closely following this situation (or they should be).
Being a college coach is already hard enough without having to worry about landing yourself in a lawsuit over a botched NIL deal. It’s something NFL coaches don’t have to worry about … which is why college coaches are taking more chances to jump to the NFL, even if it means a lower job title and pay.
FUNNIEST THINGS YOU WILL SEE THIS WEEK:
The congregation at the Sunday Pulpit is, shall we say, diverse?
Nature is freaking amazing.
This dude is lucky to be alive.
I’m pretty sure I’ve seen this in t-ball.
Sometimes you just have to let your fairy princess out.
SPORTS ON A DIME:
That’s how you do it!
The Texas Longhorn softball team suffered a stunning loss to the 16 seed Texas A&M Aggies Friday night. Then they needed extra innings to defeat the Aggies on Saturday afternoon. That sets up a pivotal game three today.
Softball is growing in popularity and with games like these, it’s no wonder.
#############################
Texas baseball was the last team to wrap up its Big 12 journey. The ending wasn't great, but that doesn't diminish the dominance that UT athletics has had over the Big 12.
#############################
I am not sure if these guys will end up being any kind of impact players or not. But I do think it’s very cool they’ll be able to continue their football careers playing together.
#############################
I can’t tell you how excited I am to see Jaydon Blue get regular carries in 2024. He has a chance to be special.
#############################
The future is bright.
#############################
Xavier Worthy’s NFL Combine 40 yard dash record may not last long.
#############################
Far be it for me to question Lance Leipold after all that he has been able to accomplish, but this just feels like a mistake. I never really understand why coaches give up doing the thing that made them a success in the first place.
#############################
Anyone not cheering for Birmingham Southern in the D3 College World Series just doesn’t have a heart. You’ve probably already heard that the school is closing this week. And no, I don’t mean just closing for the summer break or anything like that, I mean shutting down permanently. That means the baseball team will be competing for a national championship AFTER they no longer have a school.
If that wasn’t tough enough, the team had a pretty rough go of things off the field as they battled Denison University in the Super Regional.
#############################
This is something that I really hadn’t thought about, but I do think it’s pretty smart.
Of course, given the column above, I would also want to include a clause that the university had to cover any legal expenses and damages from lawsuits surrounding NIL deals.
#############################
Finally, I hope you all have an incredible Memorial Day weekend. We are all blessed to live in the land of the free – but that freedom was paid for.
