UVA loses big at hearing in Lars Tiffany case, might want to think about settling

A local judge has ruled that the $1.4 million lawsuit that former UVA Lacrosse coach Lars Tiffany filed against the school over his termination after the 2025 season can proceed.

And based on how the ruling was laid out, the University might want to think about initiating settlement talks.

Per reporting by Cville Right Now, Albemarle County Circuit Court Judge Cheryl Higgins denied two motions from UVA to dismiss the case after a hearing held on Friday, noting that, in her view, the school “made a definitive offer” and that “Tiffany accepted.”

Tiffany filed the suit in June, alleging that the school is reneging on a three-year contract extension that he signed earlier this year.

Tiffany’s side of the case is that he was presented with an offer sheet for a three-year extension last summer, but Steve Pritzker, the deputy athletics director at UVA, reached out to the coach to tell him that a mistake had been made, and that Pritzker told Tiffany the AD, Carla Williams, had asked Pritzker to see how the year ended for the lacrosse program before doing anything with the proposed extension.

Tiffany, signing the offer sheet, had, according to the suit, put Pritzker “in a tough spot.”

In terms of how the season ended for UVA Lacrosse, after a 3-4 start, Tiffany led the program to an ACC championship, though the ‘Hoos were bounced in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

The position of UVA Athletics on the contract matter is that it had brought up a possible fourth year as part of the extension, amounting to a counteroffer, making the original three-year offer sheet no longer valid.

Per the reporting from Cville Right Now, Higgins sided with Tiffany on that point – indicating that it is her view that discussions about the possibility of adding a fourth year to the extension did not negate the existing offer.

The total asked for in the suit – $1.4 million – would come to $466,666 per year, which would have been a nice raise for Tiffany, who was due to get $377,206 in the final year of the five-year extension that he signed in 2021.

After cutting ties with Tiffany, the school hired his top assistant, Kevin Cassese, and quite obviously low-balled him on the pay – Cassese is getting $285,000 a year under the terms of his three-year deal.