Marist lawsuit goes national

When you've made it onto Deadspin, you know the story is big.
The popular blog site weighs in on Marist's lawsuit against former head coach Matt Brady. While the biggest case made by Deadspin writer Barry Petchesky and Hofstra head coach Tom Pecora revolves around the transfer of recruits, Brady's departure is missing in their argument.
One of the focal points of this lawsuit includes wording in Brady's contract and James Madison's knowledge of the contractual status.
This case, to me, is not as complicated as everyone is making it seem. This clause is nothing new. Boston College football coach Jeff Jagodzinski was fired after not receiving consent to talk to the New York Jets about their previous coaching vacancy. In the NHL, Brent Sutter needed consent to talk with the Calgary Flames before taking their job opening.
While recruiting is an issue, this case centers on breach of contract. JMU is involved because they either knowlingly aided Brady in breaching his contract, or they were ignorant and didn't read the fine print. Either way, Marist has a case.
Unlike in professional sports, you can't be awarded draft-pick compensation. Therefore, Marist is gunning for financial renumerations to cover all the expenses of cleaning up Brady's mess. Imagine Julius Wells being forced to attend Marist as compensation for Brady's error. It's impossible. Where recruits attend school is not that big of a deal. A coach violating his contract is.
Granted, Marist is far better off with Chuck Martin as head coach. It's not even close. Brady pulled off one of the great heist's in college coaching history. He took the previous coach's phenomenal recruiting class and parlayed it into another job. Martin has already recruited more talent than Brady ever did in his tenure.
As far as a future precedent, I don't see the issue being nearly as large as most would make it seem. This case simply means that coaches will have full knowledge of all the provisions going into a contract. The idea floated out there that coaches will now only sign one or two year contracts is ludicrous. Imagine Martin attempting to get a bigger job after just two seasons. A two-year deal would not allow coaches to build a sufficient resume. This case does mean that coaches are more likely to hammer out the details before signing. There is the possibility a coach would not sign at a mid-major if there is the possibility the college would not allow him to talk to other schools. The thought that coaches would not want to coach here and recruits would not want to come here because of this lawsuit is erroneus, in my opinion.