Former UTRGV Head Men’s Basketball Coach Matt Figger. Courtesy photo.
This article originally appeared in the May 3 edition of the Progress Times.
The University of Texas System agreed to pay former UTRGV Head Men’s Basketball Coach Matt Figger $250,000 to resign in March, according to an agreement obtained by the Progress Times through an open records request.
Figger appears to have resigned while some kind of university investigation involving him remained ongoing.
UTRGV announced Figger’s departure on March 19 in a release that said the university and Figger had “mutually agreed to part ways” and that the coach had “decided to pursue other professional opportunities.”
UTRGV agreed to pay Austin Peay State University $100,000 to hire Figger away from that institution in 2021.
Figger racked up a lackluster 29-65 record during his three seasons as the Vaquero’s coach.
“We thank Coach Figger for his efforts and his contributions to our program over the last three years,” Vice President and Director of Athletics Chasse Conque said in the release, particularly noting Figger’s players’ community service record.
Figger’s $320,000 a year base salary contract with the university was supposed to run through April of 2026.
In its agreement with Figger, UT agreed to pay him $250,000 in exchange for him pledging to waive any potential claims against the university.
Had the university terminated Figger without cause, it would have owed him somewhere in the neighborhood of $420,000, based on his contract. Had Figger terminated the contract without cause for another coaching job, the university could have required payment of tens of thousands of dollars.
Figger agreed to refrain from contacting or recruiting any athletes UTRGV had previously contacted or recruited for a period of a year after his resignation.
“My family and I will always cherish our time in Edinburg and we wish the entire UTRGV community the very best,” Figger said in the university’s release.
The Progress Times filed an open records request with the university seeking any complaints, final reports and related policies for investigations in which Figger is a respondent.
With the exception of policies, the university says documents responsive to that request should be withheld.
In a letter seeking an opinion from the Texas Attorney General that would allow it to withhold those records dated April 24, the university said that responsive records include information collected or produced during an unresolved investigation.
UTRGV argued that releasing that information for an investigation that hasn’t been finalized would interfere with and possibly compromise the university’s ability to finalize that investigation “in a meaningful way.”
“The responsive information is part of an ongoing compliance investigation that has not been finalized concerning personnel matters that involve “ethics and standards of conduct” at the University. In response to complaints, the University’s Office of Human Resources Employee Relations and Policy Administration has conducted an investigation to assess and ensure compliance with applicable laws, rules, regulations, and policies,” the letter says. “The information at issue was collected or produced as part of the investigation and thus became part of the University’s internal compliance process.”
The letter describes a compliance program as a process to ensure that people working on behalf of an institution of higher education adhere to rules and policies related to ethics and standards of conduct, financial reporting, internal accounting controls or auditing.
Contacted by the Progress Times, Figger at first denied knowing about any sort of compliance investigation before acknowledging it but declining to comment on it.
“That’s in the past. I don’t look in the past. I don’t worry about the past. The past is history, I don’t worry about it,” he said.
Figger said he wishes UTRGV the “best of luck” and that he’s planning on putting his time at the university behind him.
Where to next? Figger says he’s not entirely sure.
“Out of the Valley,” he said.
The university found a replacement for Figger on April 4: Kahil Fennell, previously an assistant coach at BYU.
According to his contract, the university agreed to pay Fennell a base salary of $285,000 through 2029, $35,000 less than Figger.
Fennell received a more generous moving allowance and a comparable vehicle stipend.
“I am honored to be the next head coach of the UTRGV men’s basketball program,” Fennell said in a release. “I’d like to thank President Bailey, Chasse Conque, and [Deputy Director of Athletics] Molly Castner for their collective faith in me and our shared vision for the future of Vaqueros basketball. I am thrilled to be joining a university and athletic department the caliber of UTRGV’s and I am grateful for the opportunity. Further, my family and I feel extremely fortunate to become part of the Rio Grande Valley community. It’s a region that reflects our family’s values and we’re excited to represent our neighbors there.”
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UTRGV Men’s Basketball Head Coach Kahil Fennell. Courtesy image.