OK. So by now you know that Sunny Golloway's alleged/possible lawsuit now is an actual thing -- and a matter of public record. Golloway's attorney, John Saxon of Birmingham, filed the document Tuesday afternoon in U.S. District Court in Opelika.
Defendants include the Auburn Board of Trustees along with athletic director Jay Jacobs, former chief operating officer David Benedict, director of NCAA compliance Rich McGlynn, former director of baseball ops Scott Duval and associate athletic director Jeremy Roberts.
PART I: DISCLAIMERS
I am not a lawyer. I am a sports reporter with a background in psychology. I also spent long portions of two summers as a teenager at a place called Chandler Baseball Camp in Chandler, Okla., where my pitching coach/mentor was none other than Sunny Golloway. We spent a lot of time together. He was a very demanding coach who probably approached the verbal/mental cruelty line with me and other campers from time to time.
I didn't like him initially. I grew to like him and now look back upon my time with Golloway somewhat fondly in that he taught me to eschew convention and do what I think is the right thing; to actually think about what works for me specifically rather than accepting someone else's view of what works for me. In short, the man who taught me so much about pitching in 1987 and 1988 was very similar to the man who coached at Auburn in 2014 and 2015.
This report, if you will, is going to include some of my views about the legitimacy of certain statements made in Golloway's lawsuit. As someone who's been covering Auburn for 18 years now and who knows Golloway at least somewhat well, or did at one time, I feel like I'm in position to make these kinds of judgment calls.
Just know going in that I have biases. I'm probably more accepting of Golloway than almost anyone in the media, though I'm generally a skeptical person. I know all the the defendants personally. I know Duval pretty well and I like him. I don't know Benedict well at all. The others fall somewhere in between those two.
PART II: HOW THEY GOT HERE
Golloway rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. That's what he does. He angered parents and players with a brusque attitude that simply doesn't play well in the Southern U.S. On the whole, we tend to me a little more diplomatic down here and Golloway doesn't do diplomatic. It's my belief that Golloway's bombastic attitude toward nearly everyone in the Auburn Baseball Sphere dropped his popularity to nearly zero inside and outside the program. At that point, Auburn realized it had made a mistake in hiring Golloway. He made things easy for Auburn by making some procedural errors along the way, some of them he acknowledges in the lawsuit, and giving them a path to termination.
Jacobs fired Golloway on Sept. 27, 2015. Golloway and Saxon held a press conference on Nov. 2, 2015, to explain their side of the story. It was a strange, meandering event where Golloway seemed to be free-associating at times and just spouting off almost randomly about things he didn't like about Auburn. The takeaway here was that he planned to mount a legal challenge to Auburn's claim that he deserved no financial remuneration after being terminated. Auburn judged the termination to be "for cause" and, therefore, it wasn't legally compelled to pay Golloway a dime. To date, it hasn't paid Golloway a dime.
Saxson and lawyers representing Auburn University have spoken several times during the past six months in an attempt to reach a settlement. Golloway believes he's owed the $1 million stipulated in the contract for a "without cause" termination. The university, of course, disagrees with that.
The lawsuit became reality Tuesday.
PART III: THE REALLY BASIC ARGUMENT
Golloway is accusing Auburn of breach of contract, defamation, fraud and tortuous interference.
Auburn says Golloway exhibited a pattern of misconduct centered around serial problems with NCAA compliance. As a result, Auburn says it had no choice but to fire him.
PART IV: THE CASE AGAINST GOLLOWAY
This wondrous footnote is found on the second page of an 86-page tome -- and it encapsulates the whole thing nicely:
- One of Auburn's claims against Golloway is that Golloway allowed some players to practice who hadn't gained proper clearances. Golloway claims Auburn erred by not replacing trainer Anthony Sanderson after he left for a job at North Carolina State during the summer of 2015. Golloway claims Auburn created that problem by not providing someone to make those clearances.
- One of Auburn's claims against Golloway is that he didn't know which players were cleared and which ones weren't cleared. Golloway blames Duval since he was supposed to be communicating that information and stopped doing that.
- One of Auburn's claims against Golloway is that he personally attended workouts involving players who hadn't been cleared. Same basic defense: Duval is to blame.
- One of Auburn's claims against Golloway is that he destroyed evidence of some NCAA violations. Golloway acknowledges that some video was destroyed, but that was done in an effort to adhere to NCAA standards. Video of bullpen sessions involving one pitcher who hadn't been cleared (Colton Campbell) were trashed to prevent compounding of the problem by using "illegal" video for subsequent review.
- One of Auburn's claims against Golloway is that he "allowed" an all-star game to occur immediately after a baseball camp, which is an NCAA violation. All campers are to be afforded equal access to the coaching staff and an "all-star" game is an obvious breach of that idea. Golloway blames Duval for a lack of time management and ineffective oversight.
- One of Auburn's claims against Golloway is that he allowed campers to remain on the field after being told of lightning strikes in the area. Golloway blamed Duval for not telling him about the strikes -- and says Duval later was reprimanded for the mistake. Golloway says head trainer Joe-Joe Petrone called Duval and instructed him to get the campers off the field immediately; a directive Duval is said to have ignored the directive "one assumes, now, to help set up Golloway."
- One of Auburn's claims against Golloway is that he knew of NCAA violations and didn't report them to McGlynn or Dave Didion. Golloway claims that he only knew of one violation (the Colton Campbell bullpen session) and told Didion about it later.
- One of Auburn's claims against Golloway was that he allowed a volunteer to participate in coaching activities. The volunteer in question is Bill White, an Alex City native who played minor league ball for nine seasons including two stints with the Texas Rangers. Auburn claims Golloway gave White some Auburn gear and treated him like a coach. I know Bill White and he insists (vehemently) that he bought the gear himself before arrival.
- One of Auburn's claims against Golloway was that he failed to create an atmosphere of compliance. Golloway says he made Duval and Vick take tests to prove their understanding of NCAA rules, which isn't required by Auburn or the NCAA, and also that he asked all members of the staff, during a meeting in September, if they'd witnessed an NCAA violation. Golloway says they all denied having seen one.
- One of Auburn's claims against Golloway is that he failed to keep confidential information relating to the athletic department's investigation into the (aforementioned) alleged violations. "The allegation is without merit and insulting," the suit reads.
PART V: A LIFETIME CONTRACT?
The most important part of this whole thing is Golloway's contention that Jacobs offered him what amounts to a permanent, lifetime contract from which he cannot be terminated -- with or without cause. How so? Golloway claims that during conversations with Jacobs prior to being hired, Jacobs said he'd agree to a deal for "as many (years) as you want." Golloway contends that supersedes the written contract and removes him from the scope of being an "at-will" employee who can be terminated without any additional remuneration.
Golloway wants the $1 million buyout plus damages (compensatory + punitive) and attorney fees and interest, etc.
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