USA Today Sues Nebraska Over Info on Frost, Hoiberg Contracts

The lawsuit alleges that the school denied an open records request regarding the restructured contracts of Scott Frost and Fred Hoiberg.

The USA Today filed a public-records lawsuit against the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s director of records on Friday for denying details on the metrics present in the restructured contracts of football coach Scott Frost and men’s basketball coach Fred Hoiberg.

Gannett Satellite Information Network LLC, which publishes USA Today, alleges that reporter Steve Berkowitz’s requests for records to the “metrics mutually agreed to” in the contracts of Frost and Hoiberg was denied by director of university records Jaclyn Klintoe.

Klintoe denied the request for Frost’s contract metrics in April and denied the request for Hoiberg’s metrics in May, as she cited that both requests fell within an exception from disclosure due to “personal information in records regarding personnel of public bodies other than salaries and routine directory information.”

Attorney Michael Coyle, the lawyer representing USA Today alleges that the requested records contain information that determines the amount of Frost and Hoiberg’s salaries and are “encompassed” in the meaning of salary information.

Coyle is asking for the records to be provided immediately or for Klintoe to answer to the allegations in a trial.

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Frost agreed to a restructured contract after the season, which reduced his salary from $5 million to $4 million in 2022, as well as a reduced buyout if he his fired following next season. However, the agreement also includes the potential for Frost to be extended and to bump his salary back to $5 million in 2023 if the program reaches certain “metrics”. 

The metrics have not been released from the program, and are now the subject of the lawsuit involving the public records request.

As for Hoiberg, he has “metrics” in his contract that he needs to reach as well that have not been disclosed. However, the publicly available information provided by the university says that Hoiberg’s salary has been dropped from $3.5 million to $3.25 million. Hoiberg also elected to forgo a $500,000 retention bonus that was due to him, and his buyout dropped by $4 million, from $15 million to $11 million after the 2022 season.

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