Penn State Sues Former Defensive Coordinator Shoop

Penn State has filed a breach of contract lawsuit against former defensive coordinator Bob Shoop, saying he owes the university nearly $900,000 for leaving before his contract ended.

The university says Shoop has indicated he has no intention of paying.

The suit was filed in the Centre County Court of Common Pleas in June and moved to U.S. Middle District Court on Monday.

Shoop came to the Penn State football program with head coach James Franklin in 2014 and in January 2015 signed a contract that ran through Feb. 15, 2018. But on Jan. 10, 2016, Shoop resigned to take the defensive coordinator position with the University of Tennessee.

According to court documents, a buyout clause in Shoop’s Penn State contract stated that should he resign before it expired he would be required to pay liquidated damages of 50 percent of his base salary. The clause stipulated that he would not be required to pay if he became a head coach within one year of his resignation.

Shoop hasn’t become a head coach and is still Tennessee’s defensive coordinator. Penn State says he owes $891,856. His Penn State contract listed his annual salary as $850,000 with an additional $150,000 guaranteed in 2016 and 2017 if he remained on staff.

‘Penn State has requested, in writing, that Shoop make the payment required under the contract,’ Penn State attorney James Horne wrote in the complaint. ‘Shoop, however, has not made any payment, and, through counsel, has indicated a refusal to make such payment.’

Shoop’s memorandum of understanding with Tennessee –which notes his base pay as $245,000 and supplemental pay as $905,000 — states that he ‘is solely responsible for satisfying and buyout or liquidated damages provision’ in his contract with Penn State.

When Shoop was hired by the Volunteers in 2016, Tennessee athletic director Dave Hart told GoVols 247 that Shoop was willing to handle the Penn State buyout on his own and said it was a sign of his desire to join the program in Knoxville.

‘[I]t’s a very, very loud statement about how bad Bob wanted to be a part of what is going on here in our football program,” Hart told GoVols247. “He was willing to handle that, and we were able to move forward then in a very rapid fashion to try to get something, which we were able to do.’

Shoop has been among the highest-paid assistants in the nation and while at Penn State his defenses ranked No. 2 nationally in 2014 and No. 14 in 2015.

Nittany Lion assistant Brent Pry was promoted to the defensive coordinator position after Shoop left in 2016. Penn State ranked No. 37 in total defense last season, while Tennessee ranked No. 95.