There was chatter of a potential lawsuit coming to light back when the Virginia Athletics Department elected to not re-sign now former men’s lacrosse coach Lars Tiffany on May 18th. Chatter turned to reality on June 22, with Tiffany announcing his intentions to acquire what he and his team believe to be $1.4 million dollars in compensation due to a breach of contract by UVA. News of the Tiffany’s decision to take the matter to court was first mentioned by Dan Arestia at SticksInLacrosse.com with Inside
Lacrosse reporting additional information on 6/23.
Inside Lacrosse obtained filing documents from both sides of the issue (the dispute over a three-year contract Tiffany believed he signed and was locked in to, with UVA disagreeing with the legitimacy of the signed offer sheet) helping paint a clearer idea of the seemingly not-so-great relationship between Tiffany and the athletic department.
To get it out of the way right at the start, obviously statements in court filings come from two different sides, with the assertions of both not yet verified with any hard-evidence inside a courtroom. But a portion of this entire ordeal is relevant to the entire scope of college sports as they stand today and continue to evolve for the future.
The desire and in many cases, necessity of schools to go all-in on the big money sports (football and men’s basketball) and the strain that inevitably puts on non-revenue programs and the coaches who lead them.
In those obtained filings by IL, Tiffany’s suit mentions what his camp believes to be a clear prioritization of those big-money sports, to the detriment of the lacrosse program since UVA hired Carla Williams to lead its athletic department back in 2018.
“In the time since [Williams’ hire in 2018], UVA football and basketball have become more prioritized over non-revenue sports, including UVA Lacrosse. There is speculation that such prioritization is consistent with a long-term UVA Athletics’ plan to leave the ACC conference and join the SEC or Big Ten conferences which would mean multiple hundreds of millions of additional dollars to UVA Athletics. Ms. Williams has developed a tiering approach to its athletic teams in which UVA Lacrosse, as a non-revenue sport, was of the lowest priority, despite its historic and current successes as a flagship athletic program at UVA.”
Again, this is one side of this thing. But at the same time, it was never a secret why UVA hired Williams away from a previous position at Georgia; UVA needed to revitalize the football program. It’s entirely possible, if not overwhelmingly probable, based on the NIL spending of both the football and men’s basketball teams that this claim has some truth to it.
And you can easily argue why a system like this should be how things roll at a power conference school. The majority of fans care about the big sports, those big sports bring in the most money, resulting in the athletic department wanting to pump the most resources back into those sports to continue to stay competitive. It’s a straightforward, longtime reality of big-time college sports. It’s not rocket-science. We all saw how awesome an 11-win football season was this past season and what that does from an exposure standpoint.
But the opportunity cost of heavily investing in the big sports inevitably means things get more complicated for non-revenue sports, even at a school like UVA where there’s a history of dominating in them, especially in men’s lacrosse; forming a a gap that, with the 2025 House v. NCAA settlement (which UVA opted in on), is likely only to grow wider with time.
It’s easy to see how this need for more resources for a few programs could drive a wedge between other programs and the officials that oversee them. How could it not? Who wouldn’t fight for their program? Multiply that by 10 if the men’s lax program (which has won seven national titles) really was somehow of the lowest priority like Tiffany’s camp claims. And if there are complaints about prioritization from one of the most historic non-revenue college programs in America, you can only imagine what it’s like for the average volleyball or soccer team at other schools around the country.
So this all begs an important question, really two, I guess.
First, how can we expect college coaches to continue maintaining positive, working relationships over time with athletic departments, which, from a monetary standpoint, aren’t heavily supportive of said coaches program with what it now takes to win in football and hoops?
And two, on the flipside of that coin, can you really fault athletic directors and departments from going all-in on the big money sports where, if those teams stink for multiple years, means you get the boot and an entire fanbase ends up potentially despising you for years because of the lack of winning? That’s not to mention the need for the revenue those sports bring in.
Big-money sports are results-based in a way that sports like lacrosse, swimming, tennis, and soccer are not. UVA football and basketball NEED to win games for people to keep their jobs – and rightfully so. Those other four, along with the rest of the other non-revs need to graduate their players, stay out of trouble off the field within reason, and be ok, to pretty decent on the field. Checking those three boxes gets you a comfortable coaching stint in a non-revenue sport. For better or for worse, it’s reality.
The rise of Name, Image, and Likeness started what, at the time, seemed like far-fetched conversations of schools having to eventually cut a handful of the sports that don’t bring in the dough. And while UVA is one of the schools with donors willing to help out the smaller sports to an extent, plenty of schools out there don’t have that luxury.
By no means are we at the nuclear point by any stretch where football and basketball will be the only things to exist in the next five years. But a legendary lacrosse coach at a legendary lacrosse program mentioning a lack of financial priority by his athletic department in a lawsuit should raise serious attention as to where college sports are trending.
