Former DC Bob Shoop: Penn State lawsuit ‘not a distraction’

Former Penn State defensive coordinator Bob Shoop sat down in front of a roomful of reporters Friday and wanted to make one thing clear early on: He didn’t want to talk about his lawsuit with the Nittany Lions.

“I appreciate the fact that a lot of you guys are interested in the situation regarding me and Penn State,” the Tennessee coordinator said at a news conference, a week before training camp kicks off. “I can’t comment at this time. I promise you it’s just a matter of a contract — we have a number that we feel we owe them, and they have a number that they feel we owe them.”

Penn State filed a lawsuit against Shoop in June, suing him for nearly $900,000 after it alleged he refused to pay the buyout for breaking his contract early. Shoop countered with a $75,000 lawsuit of his own, explaining that he signed his PSU contract under duress and that “working conditions with Penn State were intolerable.” He also labeled the environment “hostile” and “negative.”

Shoop declined to go into detail Friday and attempted to steer the news conference to football matters. But the lawsuit was twice brought up, and Shoop said he hasn’t spoken about it with the Tennessee staff or players.

“No, it’s not a distraction at all,” Shoop said, wiping his eye. “The only time it’s any distraction is when you guys bring it up. I mean, seriously. I’m not trying to be funny by saying that.”

According to the lawsuit filed in June, and the accompanying contract, Shoop was required to pay the university half his base salary for any remaining term if he chose to leave early — unless he became a head coach within a year.

His Penn State contract ran through Feb. 15, 2018, but he resigned in January 2016 to become the defensive coordinator at Tennessee, a job he still holds. The Volunteers’ defense struggled last season, finishing No. 95 nationally in yards allowed while Penn State ranked No. 37.

At the time of Shoop’s departure, it was widely known that James Franklin’s longtime assistant was responsible for his own buyout. Tennessee athletic director Dave Hart even acknowledged Shoop was handling his own buyout — and how that was a statement about how badly he wanted the Volunteers’ job.

“(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.”

On Friday, Shoop tried to stick to other topics — how he likes the new staff, the importance of defensive depth, the improved team — and only briefly touched on the lawsuits involving Penn State.

“It’s nothing I think about on a daily basis unless I read about it in the paper or you guys tell me about it or call me about it,” he said.

This story was originally published July 21, 2017 at 4:53 PM with the headline "Former DC Bob Shoop: Penn State lawsuit ‘not a distraction’."