Personal Foul

Coach Joe Moore vs. The University of Notre Dame

Richard Lieberman

• Publisher: Chicago Review Press
• Year: 2005
• eBook ISBN:
  9780897339742
• Print ISBN:
  9780897334891
• Subtopic: Media & Entertainment Law

"Lieberman reveals a storied football program rife with ethical problems in the hiring of its coaches and the treatment of some of the players themselves." — Library Journal
 
It was bad enough when popular offensive line coach Joe Moore sued the University of Notre Dame for age discrimination—but matters got much worse when the lawsuit uncovered disquieting evidence of unethical and inappropriate conduct in a football program widely regarded as a model of probity. This is the dramatic story of that explosive lawsuit, which tarnished Notre Dame's burnished football image.
 
This riveting account begins in November 1996, when Bob Davie is hired as head coach to replace the beloved Lou Holtz. In one of his first, and most fateful, executive decisions, Davie fires sixty-four-year-old Joe Moore because—as Davie puts it—he needs someone younger for the job. Attorney Rick Lieberman takes on Joe Moore's case and in this absorbing book he describes the trial and the enormous tensions to which litigants like Joe Moore are subject. This is a David and Goliath story in which the Notre Dame attorneys attempt to destroy Joe Moore's reputation as both a coach and a man. In the process, Davie's own background comes under close scrutiny as a reporter's investigation reveals some damning evidence. And as the trial proceeds, Notre Dame's football program is shown to be rife with legal improprieties and inappropriate behavior involving both coaches and administrators.
 
Anyone interested in sports, in the law, in stories of blatant injustice—and in Notre Dame—will find Personal Foul a fascinating, revealing and memorable read.
 
"A testament to the seedy side of big-money college sports." — Booklist

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• I. December 1996: South Bend and Chicago
• II. 1983–84: Tulane
• III. January-February 1997: Preparing the Lawsuit
• IV. Pretrial Litigation
• V. Trial: Lafayette, Indiana
• Afterword
• Sources & Acknowledgments