Former LSU offensive line coach James Cregg, fired in June after he told NCAA investigators he had committed a recruiting violation, is suing the school for breach of contract.
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in Baton Rouge state court, said LSU athletic director Scott Woodward provided Cregg a termination letter on June 17 citing the violation of NCAA rules referenced by LSU head coach Ed Orgeron in Orgeron’s June 2 letter to Cregg saying was firing him for cause.
Cregg said in his lawsuit that in May he admitted to an NCAA enforcement official to “visiting with and providing gear to a team prospect during the COVID recruiting dead period.” In every LSU coach’s contract, knowingly committing a NCAA rules violation constitutes firing a coach for cause, meaning the university owes the fired party none of his remaining contract.
For the 47-year-old Cregg, it’s a loss of his 2021 $700,000 salary on a contract that expires March 31, 2022.
Cregg claims in his lawsuit that he shouldn’t have been fired for causethe NCAA “has never issued a ruling or decision that Coach Cregg has committed a Level I or Level II violation, or repeated Level III and/or Level IV violations, of the NCAA bylaws.”
Cregg’s lawsuit, which also asks for damages, alleges that LSU “intentionally hired” his replacement Brad Davis before Cregg was terminated.
Coach Cregg looks forward to working with LSU in the future to bring this matter to a resolution acceptable for everyone involved,” his attorneys, Christopher Whittington and Robert Campbell, said in a statement Thursday.
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