Former Georgia Southern co-offensive coordinators David Dean and Rance Gillespie are suing their former employer for breach of contract, fraud and tortious interference after the pair say they were pressured into signing contracts that reduced the school's liability in advance of a planned firing, according to a report from Dan Wolken of USA Today.
Dean and Gillespie were hired onto new head coach Tyson Summers's initial staff, signing offer sheets on Jan. 27, 2016 that expired on June 30 of this year. However, each coach says they were individually pressured by school officials at the threat of termination to sign new contracts that expired on Feb. 28, 2017, four months earlier than initially agreed upon.
The suit states Dean finally signed the amended contract on Dec. 2. Georgia Southern announced Summers would remain for a second season on Dec. 3, and the pair was fired on Dec. 4. Georgia Tech quarterbacks coach Bryan Cook was hired as offensive coordinator on Dec. 9.
At the background of all this is that Georgia Southern stumbled to a 5-7 mark in Summers's first season. The Eagles shelved their traditional triple option offense and watched their national best averages of 363 yards per game and 6.48 yards per carry plummet to 224 yards per game and 4.44 per carry -- the equivalent of Texas Tech suddenly struggling to throw the football.