Nebraska football fans deserve to know the metrics involved in the new contracts given to Scott Frost and Fred Hoiberg at the end of last year. Those metrics, according to Trev Alberts at the time, were going to be key in determining whether either coach stayed on past the current and upcoming season, respectively.
That is central to a lawsuit filed by USA Today that was argued in front of a judge at the end of last week. According to the Omaha World-Herald, the attorney, Michael Coyle argued that his organization has been trying to get a look at those metrics. However, Nebraska has claimed that the metrics for Fred Hoiberg’s contract don’t exist.
In the case of Scott Frost, the university is arguing that the metrics in his contract are a moot point. Since he’s no longer the head coach of the Nebraska football team, there’s no reason for the public to know the details of the reworked agreement that was reached after Scott Frost fired most of his offensive staff and agreed to a reduced buyout.
That restructured contract would have given Frost a salary increase if he had hit certain metrics. However, Alberts has been mum about exactly what they are, since announcing they existed.
While there were more than a few people who found it rather odd that it seemed Scott Frost had been given some sort of concrete threshold he could hit to increase his money, when Alberts announced that Hoiberg had gotten similar accommodations, eyebrows were raised.
That the university is now arguing that the metrics never really existed, or were written down, organizations like USA Today, who want the information in order to publish are wondering just what in the world is going on.
“Don’t tell the public you made the deal and then can’t find it,” Coyle said in court last week. “This money belongs to the people, and they are entitled to know.”
Representing Scott Frost, Hoiberg, the Nebraska football and basketball programs, attorney Steven Davidson said that public records laws don’t cover the documents that contain the metrics in question. And, that there is no such document for the Nebrasketball coach.
Coyle has a point that it’s extremely weird that Hoiberg’s contract stipulates he needs to meet metrics, but those metrics aren’t on a piece of paper. It seems as though the athletic department might have been caught in some sort of double speak by the lawsuit.
That suit was filed back in June, but arguments made by both sides were first made this month.
It’s not yet known how the judge will rule on this case regarding Scott Frost and Fred Hoiberg. Nor when Nebraska football and basketball fans might get to know the purported metrics.