The University of Missouri and Desireé Reed-Francois have agreed to a $2 million buyout for the former sports director. This was according to reporting from ABC 17 News’ Lucas Geisler, and it was confirmed by the Columbia Daily Tribune.
Both Reed-Francois and Robin Wenneker, chair of the UM System Board of Curators, signed the settlement deal. It says that Reed-Francois must pay Missouri by March 2031.
The number is about $1 million less than what she thought she would get. When she left Missouri to become the athletic director at Arizona in February, her deal with the Tigers said she owed them about $3 million.
“The University of Missouri today announced that it has reached an agreement with its former athletic director, Desireé Reed-Francois, to compensate the university for her departure,” a UM spokesperson told the Tribune in an email.
“We wish her the best in her new role.” We are so happy to have Laird Veatch as our new leader. He will build the best athletic program in the SEC and use the energy our Tigers are gaining to their advantage.
The Arizona Daily Star reported that soon after Reed-Francois quit, the University of Arizona’s leaders asked the AD to do everything possible to lower or get rid of the buyout.
Based on the news from Wednesday, it looks like she was able to do that.
An ABC17 story says that Arizona has paid $1.5 million toward the settlement. Reed-Francois will have to pay the last $500,000 herself. She will have two choices for how to do this: one option cuts her debt in half, but gives her less time to pay it. “Third-party funding” can’t help her pay her bills.
The deal is finalized if Reed-Francois pays $250,000 before March 31, 2028.
The settlement says that she will have to pay the full $500,000 in four payments by March 2031 if she chooses the second, longer way. This is the first payment, which is $50,000 and is due March 31, 2028. The payments would go up by $50,000 every year until the debt was paid off.
The University of Missouri could legally make a $3 million breach of contract complaint against Reed-Francois if he doesn’t pay by the due date.
Part of the settlement deal says that Reed-Francois and the university have given up any other legal claims or problems.