Bob Shoop used to be the defensive coordinator at Penn State. He's now at Tennessee. How and why he got from State College to Knoxville is a source of major animosity between the Nittany Lions and their former assistant.
Penn State is suing Shoop for breach of contract, claiming he owes the school almost $900,000 on grounds that his contract required him to pay back half the remaining salary total should he leave Penn State for another assistant coaching position. Shoop had two years remaining on his deal upon his departure for Tennessee in January 2016, and his UT contract did not require the Vols to take care of his Penn State buyout.
"It’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,” then-Tennessee AD Dave Hart said upon Shoop's hiring. “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."
In response to Penn State's suit, Shoop has now counter-sued his former employer according to PennLive, citing "intolerable" working conditions and stating he did not leave but was forced out of his job. Through his lawyer, Shoop has informed Penn State he does not intend to pay the nearly $900,000 the school says he owes and is instead asking Penn State to pay him $75,000, the minimum amount to get a suit into federal court.
"Under the terms of his employment contract with Penn State, Coach Shoop is obligated to make a liquidated damages payment to the university resulting from the termination by Coach Shoop of his employment prior to the end of the contract term," Penn State said in a statement to PennLive. "We are filing suit against him to recover this mutually agreed upon amount."