Tom Jurich’s lawyers are seeking help from Bevin to reach settlement with Louisville

Attorneys for the university’s fired athletic director met with Steve Pitt, general counsel for Gov. Matt Bevin, in an effort to speed settlement talks that have been mostly stalled since Jurich’s Oct. 18 firing, according to three sources with knowledge of the meeting.

Attorneys on both sides were unwilling to confirm the clandestine conversation had taken place.

“We are diligently pursuing an amicable resolution that is fair to Tom Jurich and acceptable to his former employers,” Jurich attorney Sheryl Snyder said. “And in the interests of achieving that goal, we will refrain from commenting on inquiries about meetings and conversations that may occur as part of that endeavor.”

Pitt acknowledged “there could be a role” for his office in resolving the dispute arising from the university’s just-cause firings of Jurich and Pitino, the former basketball coach, but he declined to address any role it may have played in the process to date.

“I can’t comment on meetings I have here in the governor’s office,” he said.

It is unclear whether the primary purpose of Thursday’s meeting was to encourage Bevin’s intervention or to acquaint Pitt with the direction of potential litigation, but several Jurich supporters suspect Bevin may have already played a significant role in the developing drama.

Previous U of L board of trustees had been chaired by a friend and neighbor of Jurich’s, Larry Benz, and by former U of L basketball star Ulysses “Junior” Bridgeman. Jurich was fired by a new board appointed by Bevin in January 2017, chaired by J. David Grissom. The vice chairman, Papa John’s pizza founder John Schnatter, has been a persistent critic of athletic department spending.

After Schnatter complained about Jurich’s stewardship last spring, Bevin responded by telling WHAS’ Terry Meiners he considered Jurich to be a “good friend” an “incredible athletic director” and vouched for his “impeccable” integrity.

But though he has consistently praised Jurich’s job performance, Bevin has stopped short of imposing his opinion on personnel matters, at least publicly, and perhaps with good reason.

The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools cited undue political influence in placing U of L on a two-year probation in 2017. SACS President Belle Wheelan wrote that Bevin’s executive actions abolishing the board of trustees in June 2016 “demonstrate the board is functioning with considerable external control and influence,” jeopardizing its “capacity to be ultimately responsible for providing (a) sound education program.”

Though Jurich says he received a supportive phone call from Bevin less than an hour before he was fired, the governor’s influence remained invisible after Jurich was placed on administrative leave in September following news of an FBI investigation into bribery in college basketball recruiting.

“There are many, many people in this community who recognize the value of what Jurich has done,” Bevin said at he time. “And I’m confident this board will consider all that as part of their decision-making process. What they do, I’ll defer to them. It’s their judgment as board members to figure it out.”

The judgment of U of L’s interim president Greg Postel, as articulated in an Oct. 20 letter of termination, was that Jurich’s tenure was characterized by ““ineffective management, divisive leadership, unprofessional conduct, and a lack of collegiality best characterized as intimidation and bullying that extends from student government to the University’s senior leadership.”

Though Jurich has yet to file suit in an effort to recoup the estimated $15 million in future earnings called for in his contract and its various amendments, members of his inner circle are privately pessimistic about the prospects of a negotiated settlement.

Tensions between Jurich and U of L were heightened last week by confirmation that a private detective agency had been investigating the former athletic director months after he was fired and also by last Friday’s firing of Jurich’s son, Mark, who was U of L’s senior associate director for development.

Mediation sessions that had been planned last month have been postponed.

Tim Sullivan: 502-582-4650; [email protected]; Twitter: @TimSullivan714. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: www.courier-journal.com/tims