Some University of Cincinnati football fans are furious over the departure of head coach Brian Kelly. Kelly coached the Bearcats to a perfect 12-and-0 season and a spot in this year’s Sugar Bowl in New Orleans. And then he took the head coaching job at the University Of Notre Dame. Kelly’s contract allowed him to take the Notre Dame job in exchange for a monetary payment to the university. The so-called out clause is one of several contractual passages that deal with a coach’s departure. Most big-time college coaching contracts specify how an employer can terminate the coach and how the coach can leave university employment. Miami University athletic director Brad Bates says coaching contracts have become less restrictive over time: “I think that a lot of people are under the misperception that contracts are agreements by both parties of a certain tenure,” Bates says. “And I think that the way these agreements have evolved, they’re almost prenuptial agreements so that both parties are agreeing what the costs would be if one of the parties decided to depart or cancel the agreement.”

Case in point: Brian Kelly will pay Cincinnati $1 million to buy his way out of his contract. Other examples of expensive buyouts include Rich Rodriguez at the University of Michigan. Rodriguez coached seven seasons at West Virginia University. He built the program into a gridiron powerhouse. When the University of Michigan offered Rodriguez a contract two years ago he took it in spite of a $4 million buyout clause in his West Virginia pact. Ohio State’s top coaches aren’t held to quite such extraordinary sums. Football coach Jim Tressel’s contract would require him to pay what the contract calls liquidated damages in the amount of $1 million. Basketball coach Thad Matta would be required to pay $500,000 dollars if he decided to depart before the end of his contract.

Both Tressel’s and Matta’s contracts infer that a certain loyalty is due the University though they also state that the coaches have a right to terminate their employment if certain conditions are met. Ohio State President Gordon Gee acknowledges the tenuous nature of collegiate coaching contracts.

“These contractual arrangements are only as good as they’re made to be broken sometimes,” Gee says. Gee says it benefits the university to recruit dedicated candidates. “I think that what you do is you find very good coaches, get them in, make sure they know how much you value and appreciate them,” Gee says. “Make sure they get more engaged in the life of the institutions so that it’s not just about football or basketball, it’s about life in general. That’s one thing that I love about our coaches both Coach Tressel and Coach Matta, Coach Foster, I could go on down the line. These are folks who are great coaches but they bleed scarlet and gray. I think that notion of institutional loyalty starts with the institution being loyal to them and creating an environment for them to be successful.”

But a coach’s voluntary departure to a more desirable position raises another question. What about a coach’s loyalty to the team; the players that he or she recruited. The coach who takes a position elsewhere can start work immediately; some players who transfer to other institutions must sit out a year. Miami University athletic director Brad Bates says college athletes are put in an unfair situation. “And so when we’re trying to model behavior such as loyalty and commitment and yet the system doesn’t allow certain students in certain sports to immediately transfer and be eligible there’s an inconsistency there relative to coaches being able to move without any residential requirement,” Bates says.

Some restaurants and bars along North High Street were filled to capacity Monday night for the NCAA championship game. Buckeyes fans at Eddie George’s restaurant who could not get in had great views from the sidewalk thanks to the giant TV screens above the bar. OSU student Jonathan Horning stood with friends and more than a hundred others.

“It’s a good rematch from the football championship and I’m excited to see these two battle,” Horning said. “It’s going to be a great match for tonight.”

Parked at the corner Phil Condek II and his father watched part of the game seated atop a Hummer decorated for the occasion.

“The Hummer H1 is decorated with a couple of little alligators each representing the starting five from the Florida crew,” Condek said. “They’re going to be turned into luggage shortly after the game. Personally, No. 13 will be my boots.”

Unfortunately for the Buckeyes an experienced Florida team including No. 13, Joakim Noah, proved to be a problem for the Buckeyes, the Gators’ starting five have played as a team for several years versus Thad Matta’s relatively young group of Buckeyes, among them Mike Conley, Jr. and 7-footer Greg Oden.

“Ohio State basketball has really thrived with Conley and Oden stepping up from the high school level,” said Jonathan Horning. “So I just get excited to see these young diaper dandies coming in and play at this level of basketball.”

By halftime Ohio State trailed Florida by 11 points, a troubling predicament for spectator Walter Smith, though Nick Ammons was not as worried.

“I’m kind of disappointed that we’re playing a little tight,” Smith said. “I think in the second half we should let it all hang out and remember why we’re here.”

“Thad Matta, he’ll bring us back, I’m tellin’ ya,” said Ammons. “Second half we’re gonna be a good team, we’ll be all right, I’m tellin’ ya.’”

“But again we gotta learn how to put teams away in the second half and stop relying on the second half,” said Smith. “But you know we’re playing the Florida Gators and they’re good.”

Too good, as it turned out, for the Buckeyes; Ohio State losing in spite of Greg Oden’s best game in the tournament. Despite the loss, fan Michael Randolph says Oden’s future looks promising.

“So much hype around him, he’s huge,” Randolph says. “And he’s going to come into the NBA exactly the way Shaquille O’Neal was. He puts about 30 or 40 pounds of muscle on? There’s your next Shaq right there. He’s already got the inside presence, he’s got the footwork; he just needs to work on his foul control and his speed. He needs to work on getting up and down the floor.”

Oden kept out of foul trouble and finished with 25 points and 12 rebounds in 38 minutes on the court. But his teammates missed too many three pointers. Florida beat Ohio State 84 to 75.

The former Xavier coach was introduced as Ohio State’s men’s basketball coach.

University president Karen Holbrook announced at an afternoon press conference that trustees officially approved Matta as coach.

He is taking over a team shaken by the sudden firing of coach Jim O’Brien over alleged NCAA violations. O’Brien admitted giving money to a recruit.

Ohio State went 14-and-16 a year ago and finished ninth in the Big Ten with a six-and-ten record, missing the NCAA tournament for the second year in a row.

But Matta says the challenges don’t faze him. He says he is taking the job to help bring Ohio State basketball back into national prominence.

The Columbus Dispatch reports OSU made the decision Wednesday afternoon after Matta interviewed with athletics department officials and OSU president Karen Holbrook Wednesday morning.

Matta, who last week, denied he was candidate for the job, is coming off a very successful season at Xavier. He coached Xavier to 26 wins and a spot in the NCAA tournament’s regional finals.