Drama in Baton Rouge as LSU football tries to save some cash

There’s some drama in Baton Rouge as LSU Football attempts to save some cash.

Back in early June, the Tigers made the surprising decision to part ways with offensive line coach James Cregg.

The move was surprising for a couple of reasons.

For starters, the timing was odd. Most staff changes take place before spring practice — not a month after spring practice has concluded.

The other reason the move was surprising was because Cregg was the 2019 offensive line coach of the year. It’s not like LSU was firing a coach who had failed miserably at his job.

LSU football fired James Cregg for cause

It turns out that LSU fired Cregg for cause. He allegedly visited a recruit (and provided that recruit with team gear) during the COVID-19 recruiting dead period.

This may not seem like a huge deal, but it possibly could be. The NCAA likely won’t mess around with programs that knowingly violate COVID-19 protocols/rules. I could see penalities being harsh (compared to typical penalties associated with impermissible contact).

LSU likely made a wise decision to get ahead of this and fire Cregg. And by firing him for cause, the program is saving around $700,000 in buyout money.

Cregg, unsurprisingly, has filed a lawsuit against LSU. He wants his money.

From 247Sports:

"Cregg claims in the lawsuit that the NCAA “has never issued a ruling or decision that Coach Gregg has committed a Level I or Level II violation, nor repeated Level II and/or Level IV violations of the NCAA bylaws such that…The Employment Agreement could provide a for cause justification for LSU to terminate coach Gregg’s employment.”"

Cregg didn’t necessarily deny the allegations. His argument seems to be that the NCAA hasn’t decided what kind of violations he committed.

But regardless of what the NCAA decides, if Cregg committed any sort of violation, then the decision to fire him with cause was justified.

I suppose it’s possible that Cregg and LSU work out some sort of settlement. But I really don’t think Cregg has much leverage here. I can’t blame him for trying to get his buyout, but I doubt he ends up recouping any of that money.