Enjoy... I'm not sure there is much more for me to find out at the moment. I'll let you know if I hear anything new, but at this point I believe we're just waiting for an announcement.
Buyout:
- Buyout terms were agreed upon prior to the Tampa meeting.
- Don't know the exact terms, but was told that it is "very open on both ends" allowing both sides an easy exit.
- Gruden's agent initially wanted them to have a liquidated-damages clause of 0 and Tennessee wanted a mutual buyout. This was the eventual compromise.
Endorsements:
- Since first contact a major source of contention has been Gruden's current and future endorsements.
- Frankly I don't think my two sources know how this ended up turning out and they acted like it may still be an issue.
- As best as I understand it, Gruden does not want Tennessee meddling in his endorsements, while Tennessee is adamant that he will need to drop endorsements.
- I got the feeling money wasn't the issue, but it was more of an issue of principle with Gruden.
Additional contract info I picked up:
- Gruden has an out-clause on his ESPN contract. No buyout.
- Was told a contract length of 4 years by one person, other did not know.
- 3 leased vehicles.
- "Around 25" season tickets.
- Bonus of 1m.
- Not as heavily incentivized as rumors have said. Base salary is pretty close to total salary.
- Around 9m with around 1.5m in bonuses.
- I wasn't given exact numbers on the salary so I would take that number with a grain of salt.
Staff:
- Most of the staff-related issues I referenced two days ago I found out centered around Tee Martin.
- Gruden has placed a great deal of importance on Tee due to his recruiting prowess.
- Gruden has made it clear that he does not want to be on the road recruiting every single free night, and he feels (whether right or wrong), that having Tee on staff will take a lot of that pressure off of him.
- When Tee was contacted 2 weeks ago it appeared as if there would be little to no resistance on either side if Gruden was hired. Things became complicated late last week when Tee was contacted by Georgia Southern. Another source I talked to said he's also been contacted by UTEP, but I'm not as confident in that source.
- Tee is currently in limbo and no one I talked to knows who a potential replacement would be.
Timing:
- Gruden has no interest in coaching this year.
- He will not coach vs. Vanderbilt regardless of when an announcement is made.
- If we somehow win the next 2 games he would be involved in the bowl preparation.
- Due to that he prefers an official announcement on 11/28, with controlled leaks beginning on 11/26.
- As of 2 days ago the AD had pushed for an announcement on 11/21 with controlled leaks beginning on 11/20.
- Not sure what they've agreed on to be honest.
Source Confidence that deal is done:
- I was able to talk to 2 of my 3 sources face-to-face yesterday and they both say that the deal is done.
- Last time I talked to my main source they seemed confident as well.
- I have no reason to doubt them.
