Former University of Hawaii offensive coordinator Aaron Price was terminated without cause under terms of his contract, the school said Tuesday.
Athletic director Ben Jay said Price and head coach Norm Chow reached a "mutually agreed upon separation" that he termed to be "in the best interests of the football program and the department."
Citing "privacy rights," Jay declined to go into specifics of the falling out between Price and Chow, though others have said Chow has told them he was not the only coach that requested the separation more than a week ago.
Price was not immediately available for comment by email.
Price’s departure was announced Friday, the opening day of fall camp, after less than six months on the job. Under terms of his contract, termination without cause requires a 90-day written notice of termination and lump-sum liquidated damages "equal to the total amount remaining under terms of this agreement."
UH said Price will receive his salary through Oct. 30 and a lump sum equal to the balance of his pay remaining through the Feb. 18, 2014, conclusion of his one-year contract.
Price’s 12-page agreement was released at the request of the Star-Advertiser.
The amounts were redacted, but the salary range for his position is $116,640 to $203,688 and Price was believed to be under $130,000.
People familiar with the contract said UH deemed some portions of it "too vague and ambiguous" for the school to successfully push a case of termination for cause.
Jay declined to specifically address the language in Price’s contract or the reasons behind UH’s decision, but said he has been working for several months to have the contracts for all coaches "redrawn and tightened up." Jay said, "there are reasons why I started having them drawn over again and strengthened beyond just the bonus provisions and other things."
Jay reiterated that UH "will not fill (Price’s) spot on the staff this season."
