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Utah State, fired head coach Tim Duryea arguing over final year of pay

Utah State v Duke

DURHAM, NC - NOVEMBER 29: Head coach Tim Duryea of the Utah State Aggies directs his team during their game against the Duke Blue Devils at Cameron Indoor Stadium on November 29, 2015 in Durham, North Carolina. Duke won 85-52. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)

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Utah State and fired head coach Tim Duryea are figuring out the final year of his pay after a bizarre contract typo.

In a report from Mitch Henline of the Cache Valley Daily, the school is potentially withholding a fifth year of pay because an alleged typo that said Duryea would be finished after four years. After finishing his third season as head coach -- and 17th season overall with the program -- Duryea was fired on March 11.

From Henline’s report:

Both the contract and the offer letter state the employment term is for five years, but there is a contradictory line in the contract. It states that Tim Duryea would be employed “for a term of five (5) years, commencing on March 30, 2015, and ending on June 30, 2019.” The listed dates only cover four, not five, basketball seasons.

Angie Duryea said the end date is a typo and that everyone involved in the contract had the understanding that the term was five years. She said not only is USU unwilling to pay, but that the only people at USU that will speak to her are the school’s lawyers.

“We have supporting documents that says it is five years,” she said. “The intent was five years and they are trying to weasel out of it. Seventeen years and this is what we get.”


While that sounds bad from the Duryea perspective, Utah State appears to be trying to resolve this whole thing. A spokesperson from the school told Henlin that Utah State is trying to figure out the discrepancy in the dates of the contract.

“Our counsel has been working with his counsel to resolve the differences,” Utah State spokesman Tim Vitale said to Henline.

The difference is $279,000, so you can see why Duryea’s family would be interested in a typo like that getting corrected. As Duryea’s wife, Angie, noted, he was also at the school for nearly two decades. It would be nice to see these two resolve their differences and move on.

Utah State has already hired a new coach with former South Dakota head coach Craig Smith. So this situation shouldn’t have any bearing on the program’s ability to move forward. Although Smith should definitely double-check his contract just to make sure something like this doesn’t happen to him.