1 1 IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF MONONGALIA COUNTY WEST VIRGINIA 2 - - - WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY, BOARD OF ) 3 GOVERNORS for and on behalf of ) WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY, ) 4 ) Plaintiff, ) 5 ) Civil Action vs. ) No. 07-C-851 6 ) RICHARD RODRIGUEZ, ) 7 ) Defendant and ) 8 Third Party Plaintiff ) ) 9 vs. ) ) 10 WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY ) FOUNDATION, INC., a West Virginia ) 11 corporation, ) ) 12 Third Party Defendant. ) - - - 13 Deposition of ED PASTILONG Friday, April 18, 2008 14 - - - The deposition of ED PASTILONG, called as a 15 witness by the defendant and third party plaintiff, pursuant to notice and the West Virginia Rules of 16 Civil Procedure pertaining to the taking of depositions, taken before me, the undersigned, 17 Eugene C. Forcier, a Stenographer Commissioner in and for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, at the offices 18 of Flaherty Sensabaugh & Bonasso, PLLC, 965 Hartman Run Road, Suite 1105, Morgantown, West Virginia, 19 commencing at 8:47 o'clock a.m., the day and date above set forth. 20 - - - COMPUTER-AIDED TRANSCRIPTION BY 21 MORSE, GANTVERG & HODGE, INC. PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA 22 412-281-0189 - - - 23 ALSO RECORDED VIA VIDEOTAPE 24 - - - 25 2 1 APPEARANCES: 2 On behalf of the Plaintiff and Deponent: 3 Flaherty Sensabaugh & Bonasso, PLLC: Thomas V. Flaherty, Esquire 4 Jeffrey M. Wakefield, Esquire 200 Capital Street 5 P.O. Box 3843 Charleston, West Virginia 25338 6 Fitzsimmons Law Offices: 7 Robert P. Fitzsimmons, Esquire Robert J. Fitzsimmons, Esquire 8 1609 Warwood Avenue Wheeling, West Virginia 26003 9 Alexander Macia, Esquire 10 West Virginia University Vice President for Legal Affairs and General 11 Counsel Office of the President 12 105 Stewart Hall PO Box 6201 13 Morgantown, West Virginia 26506 14 On behalf of the Defendant and Third Party Plaintiff: 15 Barkan & Robon, Ltd.: 16 Marvin A. Robon, Esquire 1701 Woodlands Drive, Suite 100 17 Maumee, Ohio 43537 18 DiTrapano, Barrett & Di Piero, PLLC: Sean P. McGinley, Esquire 19 604 Virginia Street, East Charleston, West Virginia 25301 20 On behalf of the Third Party Defendant: 21 (No appearance.) 22 - - - 23 ALSO PRESENT: 24 John C. Taylor, Videographer - - - 25 3 1 THE VIDEOGRAPHER: Will everyone be please 2 turn off all cell phones, Blackberries, pagers 3 and portable communication devices. 4 MR. ROBON: Boy, that's a great idea. 5 THE VIDEOGRAPHER: We are now on record in 6 the matter of WVU versus Rodriguez, Civil Action 7 No. 07-C-851. 8 My name is John Taylor, I am a legal video 9 specialist with Katz Consulting Group, LLC, 10 located at 820 Quarrier Street, Charleston, West 11 Virginia 25301. 12 I am not related to any parties to this 13 action, nor counsel of record, nor do I have a 14 financial interest in this action. 15 Today is April 18, 2008, the time is 16 8:47 a.m. 17 This deposition is taking place at 18 Flaherty, Sensabaugh & Bonasso, 965 Hartman Run 19 Road, Morgantown, West Virginia. 20 The deponent today is Ed Pastilong. 21 Will counsel please identify themselves for 22 the record. 23 MR. FLAHERTY: I am Tom Flaherty. I am 24 Tom Flaherty, counsel for the plaintiff, West 25 Virginia University Board of Governors for and on 4 1 behalf of West Virginia University. 2 MR. WAKEFIELD: Jeff Wakefield, also 3 representing the plaintiff, West Virginia 4 University Board of Governors. 5 MR. R. P. FITZSIMMONS: Bob Fitzsimmons on 6 behalf of West Virginia University. 7 MR. R. J. FITZSIMMONS: Robert J. 8 Fitzsimmons on behalf of West Virginia 9 University. 10 MR. MACIA: Alex Macia for West Virginia 11 University. 12 MR. ROBON: Marvin A. Robon, from Barkan & 13 Robon, Maumee, Ohio, representing 14 Richard Rodriguez. 15 MR. McGINLEY: Sean McGinley for the 16 defendant. 17 MR. ROBON: Would you have the court 18 reporter also identify himself, please. 19 THE VIDEOGRAPHER: Would you identify 20 yourself, sir, and swear the witness. 21 THE REPORTER: My name is Gene Forcier with 22 Morse, Gantverg & Hodge. 23 Mr. Pastilong, would you raise your right 24 hand, please. 25 - - - 5 1 ED PASTILONG 2 called as a witness by the defendant and third party 3 plaintiff, having been first duly sworn, as 4 hereinafter certified, was deposed and said as 5 follows: 6 EXAMINATION 7 BY MR. ROBON: 8 Q Mr. Pastilong, you know who I am, correct; 9 why I am here? 10 A I assume I do. 11 Q Okay. I am here for a search for the 12 truth, protect Richard Rodriguez; you have been told 13 that? 14 A You are here for the truth. 15 Q Yes. 16 A And that's fine with me. 17 Q Okay. 18 Have you ever been deposed before? 19 A Yes. 20 Q How many times? 21 A One time. 22 Q Okay. In a litigation involving the 23 university? 24 A Yes. 25 Q And what was that litigation? 6 1 A A -- an assistant track coach. 2 Q Sued the university? 3 A I'm not sure if it was a suit, but there 4 was some question. 5 Q Improprieties? 6 MR. FLAHERTY: Object to the form of the 7 question. 8 Q Could you remember what it was about? 9 A This young lady had departed, and wanted 10 some additional moneys. 11 Q So it was a sex discrimination case? 12 MR. FLAHERTY: Object to the form of the 13 question. 14 A I don't believe it was sex discrimination. 15 Q Equal pay? 16 A I don't believe it was equal pay. 17 Q What happened to the case? 18 A Basically, it just went away. 19 Q Did she get some money? 20 A I don't believe so. 21 Q You are not on any medication, have a 22 hangover, or anything like that, so that whatever you 23 say today can be taken to the bank? 24 A I feel pretty comfortable. 25 Q Good. 7 1 My understanding is that you and 2 Richard Rodriguez were very close friends when he 3 first came to the university; is that true or false? 4 A We became good friends. 5 Q And how would you consider your 6 relationship today? 7 A Good friends. 8 Q You are still friends? 9 A Yes. 10 Q Do you find him to be a truthful 11 individual? 12 A I had no reason to question that, during 13 his term at West Virginia. 14 Q Do you question it, now that his term is 15 over at West Virginia? 16 A No. 17 Q Okay. 18 I just read an affidavit that was signed by 19 Larry Aschebrook. 20 Have you ever seen that affidavit? 21 A No. 22 Q Have you heard about it? 23 A Briefly, this morning. 24 Q Tell me the circumstances of why 25 Larry Aschebrook left West Virginia University. 8 1 A His comments to me were to return to his 2 home state, and to live in his house, in his home 3 state, of which he has been unable to sell, and for a 4 position back in his home state, that he and his wife 5 would prefer to be at. 6 Q Okay. 7 How many coaches are you in charge of as 8 the athletic director? 9 A Well, we have 17 sports. 10 Q Correct. 11 A And the head coaches, and the assistants. 12 Q A hundred people, would you estimate? 13 A It is less than a hundred coaches, but our 14 total department would probably be in the area of 200 15 people. 16 Q 200 people. 17 What kind of annual budget does the 18 university give the athletic department for those 19 roughly 200 people? 20 A Well, our athletic department budget is in 21 the area of $48 million. 22 Q Okay. 23 And, of that $48 million, how much comes 24 from the State of West Virginia, or does it all come 25 from the State of West Virginia? 9 1 A Well, portions of it come from the State of 2 West Virginia, and portions come from contributors, 3 foundation. 4 Q And, for the jury, give me a rough 5 approximation what percentage comes from the 6 university, and what percentage -- or the state, and 7 what percentage comes from the foundation? 8 A Well, I would say the majority comes from 9 the state, and then the second most would be from the 10 foundation, and there are moneys that come from our 11 particular conference via television revenues, 12 et cetera. 13 Q And out of the 48 million, what would be an 14 approximation that would come from the foundation; 10, 15 20 million, or something between those two numbers? 16 A Something between those two. 17 Q On an annual basis? 18 A On an annual basis. 19 Q And, you have roughly, you said, less than 20 a hundred coaches? 21 A Correct. 22 Q That's head coaches and assistant coaches? 23 Right? 24 A Correct. 25 Q And would you tell the jury how many 10 1 coaches have left in the last two years, two calendar 2 years, 2006, 2007? Just approximately. 3 A I'd say in the area of -- assistants and 4 head coaches? 5 Q Yes. 6 A This is a guess. 20. 7 Q An educated guess, though; right? 8 A Yes. 9 Q So approximately 20 percent? 10 A In that area. 11 Q Okay. 12 What does the average athletic department 13 have as a turnover ratio, for coaches and assistants? 14 A The average athletic department? 15 Q Yes. 16 A I'm not aware of a statistic on that 17 nature. 18 Q Tell me what you know about the 19 Calvin Magee case, involving Larry Aschebrook. 20 A I know that our university is looking into 21 that. 22 Beyond that, I don't know the particulars. 23 Q Who, within the university, is looking into 24 it? 25 A A lady by the name of Jennifer McIntosh, 11 1 who is in charge of social justice. 2 Q At the university? 3 A Yes. 4 Q Is she a lawyer? 5 A I don't know if she is a lawyer. 6 Q How long has she been at the university? 7 A A number of years. 8 Q Has he filed a civil rights complaint with 9 the United States Government, or the West Virginia 10 Civil Rights Commission? 11 MR. FLAHERTY: Who is "he"? 12 MR. ROBON: Calvin Magee. 13 A I don't know. 14 The best would be to ask him that, I would 15 think. 16 Q This affidavit, that was -- 17 MR. ROBON: Well, let's mark this as 18 Exhibit A. 19 (Thereupon, Pastilong Exhibit A was marked 20 for identification.) 21 BY MR. ROBON: 22 Q Now, you indicated, you have not had a 23 chance to read that? 24 A I have not read this. 25 MR. ROBON: Let's go off tape for a moment, 12 1 so he can read that, or just skim it. 2 THE VIDEOGRAPHER: The time is 8:57 a.m., 3 we are going off the record. 4 (Discussion off the record.) 5 THE VIDEOGRAPHER: The time is 09:06 a.m., 6 we are back on the record. 7 Q While we were off the record, 8 Mr. Pastilong, we gave you the opportunity to read 9 this affidavit of Larry Aschebrook. 10 Correct? 11 A Yes. 12 Q Are the things he says in there, to your 13 knowledge, true or false? 14 MR. FLAHERTY: If you know. 15 A Sir, you would have to ask Larry. I cannot 16 speak for Larry, with regards to that affidavit. 17 Q Well, I understand that, but from your 18 personal knowledge, do you believe it's true or false, 19 or portions of it are true or portions of it are 20 false? 21 MR. FLAHERTY: Object to the form. 22 Q You can answer. 23 A Again, only Larry could answer that. I 24 mean, that's his affidavit. 25 I -- 13 1 Q Well, let me ask this question: With 2 regard to his comments about Richard Rodriguez, do you 3 believe those are accurate quotes, something 4 Richard Rodriguez would say, or not say? 5 MR. FLAHERTY: Object to the form. I don't 6 think this man's belief is relevant, nor is it -- 7 MR. ROBON: Well, he is experienced with 8 Mr. Rogriguez. He knows 9 MR. FLAHERTY: -- nor is it -- let me 10 finish my objection -- nor is it reasonably 11 calculated to lead to discovery of relevant 12 evidence. 13 Q You can answer. 14 MR. FLAHERTY: Answer if you can. 15 A Again, I don't feel it would be adequate 16 for me to assert what -- whether that is -- whether 17 Mr. Rodriguez's inferences there are -- they are his 18 feelings, you would have to ask Mr. Rodriguez, I can't 19 speak for him. 20 Q Okay. 21 Let me ask this question: Is it true that 22 in return for an affidavit like this, you helped 23 Mr. Aschebrook, or someone on your athletic 24 department, or at the university helped him get a 25 position at Arizona State? 14 1 A No, I did not assist Mr. Aschebrook in his 2 new position at Arizona State. 3 Q That wasn't my question. 4 Was it you, someone in the athletic 5 department, or someone at the university -- you said 6 it wasn't you; was it someone else? 7 If you know? 8 A I don't know of anybody who assisted him 9 with that particular new assignment. 10 Q Did you have any conversations with 11 anybody, about giving him a recommendation for his new 12 assignment? 13 A I did not, no. 14 Q Did you talk to Governor Manchin about it? 15 A No. 16 Q Have you talked to Governor Manchin at all, 17 about the Calvin McGee situation? 18 A I may have had some discussions with him, 19 but I don't recall any; I mean, any particulars. 20 Q Would you tell the jury how much involved 21 Governor Manchin is with the athletic program at West 22 Virginia University? 23 A Well, to begin with, the governor was a 24 student athlete here on the football team, and since 25 he's been in business, I mean, he has been a 15 1 participant in our Mountaineer Athletic Club, tickets, 2 and so on; in fact, the entire family has been, over 3 the years. 4 From time to time, we will be at social 5 gatherings where the governor is there, and so on. 6 But, his involvement is, I would say, like 7 a normal governor would be, in terms of any 8 institution, or -- and their athletic department. 9 Q Can you estimate, for the jury, the number 10 of phone calls you have had with him since 11 December 15th of '06, till now, which is what, 12 April 18th? 13 MR. WAKEFIELD: That's a year and a half. 14 MR. ROBON: No, that's -- 15 MR. WAKEFIELD: You said '06. 16 MR. ROBON: I'm sorry. 17 Q 07? 18 A '07? What month? 19 Q December, make it 14th, '07, until today, 20 April 18th, '08. 21 MR. FLAHERTY: Are you limiting the scope 22 of your question to something relevant to this 23 case, or just any? 24 MR. ROBON: Any telephone calls. To for 25 from. 16 1 MR. FLAHERTY: Social or otherwise. 2 MR. ROBON: To or from the governor. 3 A The governor and I have been friends since 4 college. We were on the football team together, and 5 we are social friends. And I speak with him quite 6 often. 7 Q Does that mean once a day, once a week, 8 twice a day? 9 A Oh, sometimes once a week, sometimes two 10 weeks, sometimes three weeks. 11 Q And most of the time it deals with 12 athletics at the university? 13 A No. 14 Q What percentage of the time would you say 15 it deals with athletics at the university? 16 A Very little. 17 Q Okay. 18 Did he arrange the game between West 19 Virginia and Marshall, in football? 20 A He was quite active in it. 21 I would say he was the one that the -- 22 person who had the most to do with that game being 23 played, yes. 24 Q And was that the first of three games? 25 A Well, there is -- there is a series of 17 1 games. 2 Q Right, between Marshall and West Virginia? 3 A West Virginia, yes. 4 Q Right. 5 Was the first one played in '07? 6 MR. FLAHERTY: The first ever? 7 A The first -- 8 Q The first one that the governor arranged? 9 A I believe that was -- that was '06. 10 Q Okay. And West Virginia won? 11 A Yes. 12 Q And they won also in '07? 13 A Yes. 14 Q And they have one more game in '08? 15 A We have a game in '08, and there are games 16 nine, ten and 11. 17 Q Okay. 18 A And 12. 19 Q Okay. 20 Tell me about your conversation with the 21 governor on Friday, December 14th of 2007, relating to 22 Rodriguez. 23 MR. FLAHERTY: Object to the form of the 24 question. It assumes there was a call, or 25 conversation. 18 1 A I can't recall specifically that particular 2 day, as to whether I talked to the governor or not. 3 Q Well, when you -- 4 A I may have, or I may not have. But I -- 5 Q You don't recall asking the governor 6 whether or not you should honor the promises that 7 President Garrison made to Richard Rodriguez? 8 MR. FLAHERTY: Object to the form of the 9 question. 10 A I don't recall having that conversation 11 with those specifics, no. 12 Q You don't deny it; you just don't recall 13 it? 14 MR. FLAHERTY: Object to the form of the 15 question. 16 A I can't deny it, because I just don't 17 recall that that took place. 18 Q Okay. 19 Well, did it take place on December 15th, 20 on Saturday, as opposed to Friday, December 14th? 21 MR. FLAHERTY: Object to the form. 22 A I don't recall having a conversation with 23 the governor with those specifics that you are talking 24 about. 25 Q Well, do you recall Richard Rodriguez 19 1 meeting with you in mid December? 2 A What date? 3 Q In mid December? 4 A Mid December? 5 Q Yes, like the 14th or 15th? 6 A I met several times with Rich, during that 7 period. 8 Q And what's "several;" more than once? 9 A Yes, sir. 10 Q How many times; do you recall? 11 A In mid December, during -- a few times. 12 Q Well, let's go back for a moment. 13 He signed his addendum on August 24th of 14 '07, the second addendum to his employment contract; 15 correct? 16 A Yes. 17 Q Were you there when that was signed? 18 A No. 19 Q Okay. 20 Had you met with him before it was signed? 21 Immediately, like a week or two before? 22 A I had been with him at practice, but I did 23 not have a structured meeting, formal meeting, 24 et cetera. 25 Q Were you with him at the blessing, in early 20 1 August, of the field? 2 A Yes. 3 Q Okay. 4 Did you discuss his contract when you were 5 with him in early August at the blessing? 6 A Following the blessing, he had asked if I 7 would accompany him, with an -- some of his 8 accountants, attorneys, et cetera, to a meeting, and I 9 did. 10 Q Were the attorneys -- did he have an 11 attorney there; or you don't know? 12 A There were four, five gentlemen, and I 13 think one or two of them were attorneys, accountants, 14 et cetera. 15 Q Do you remember a name? 16 A The -- I remember a Mr. Wilcox. 17 Q Well, he is a financial advisor, not an 18 attorney. 19 A Okay. 20 Q And do you know who Mike Brown was? 21 A Mike Brown is an agent. 22 Q A sports agent? 23 A A sports agent. 24 Q He is not a lawyer, either, is he; as far 25 as you know? 21 1 A I don't know what he is. 2 Q And was David Hammond there, from the 3 William Baughn, B-a-u-g-h-n, Group, as a CPA? 4 A Following the blessing? 5 Q Yes. 6 A The other gentleman with Mr. Wilcox, I 7 don't -- I don't recall their names. 8 There were three, four of them. 9 Q Had they come down for the blessing, or had 10 they come down to work on his contract, or don't you 11 know? 12 A I don't know why they came down. 13 I mean, that was the particular day that 14 they were having our traditional blessing of the 15 field, and they appeared, and that's when Rich asked 16 me if I would stay around and meet with them. 17 Q Was it a scheduled meeting, as far as you 18 know, with you? 19 A With me, I don't believe it was a scheduled 20 meeting. 21 Q Did you have any other representatives of 22 the university with you? 23 A Well, at the blessing, there were several 24 people. 25 Q No, but I mean, when you sat and talked 22 1 with Mr. Rodriguez and his two or three people that 2 were with him? 3 A In the room was Mr. Wilcox, Rich, Rita, 4 Craig Walker and Mike Garrison. 5 I don't know if there had been discussions 6 with any of those people prearranging the meeting, or 7 if it was impromptu, but at the blessing Rich said, 8 "Could you sit with me afterwards," and I accommodated 9 that. 10 Q Okay. 11 It would be -- sounds like a scheduled 12 meeting with Craig Walker and President Garrison was 13 there; wasn't it? I mean, they wouldn't just 14 ordinarily be available on a whim; would they? 15 A I had asked them to be at the blessing, so 16 I don't know if they had been asked to be at that 17 scheduled meeting or not, I -- 18 Q Did you ask them to come to the meeting? 19 A I don't believe I did. 20 Q Okay. 21 So, what conversations do you recall took 22 place at that meeting right after the blessing, in 23 early August of '07, with regard to Richard Rodriguez 24 and his contract, and/or promises or conditions that 25 were told to him, as best you can recollect? 23 1 A Rich did the majority of the talking, and I 2 do not recall any -- I don't recall promises coming. 3 It was pretty much a -- Rich mentioning some 4 situations to us, and that was about it. 5 Q What situations did he mention to you? 6 A He had made some general comparisons about 7 some of the things other schools were doing, some of 8 the things that he had collected from talking to other 9 head coaches, and so on. 10 Q Things that he wanted implemented in the 11 athletic program? 12 A There was not a -- I didn't look upon it as 13 a request. It was just comments that he was making, 14 in general. 15 Q Well, can you recall, for the jury, what 16 those comments were? 17 A They were very general, and for me to -- 18 Q General. You know, were they about prices 19 of tickets, were they about free tickets for high 20 school coaches, were they about allowing the kids to 21 sell their books and retain the money at the end of a 22 semester? 23 I mean, tell me what you can recall. 24 A Well, there was a period in the fall where 25 some of the issues you just mentioned were brought to 24 1 my attention by Rich, but for them to have been 2 specifically brought up at that meeting, that meeting 3 was pretty general, in his comments. 4 Q Did -- tell me what President Garrison said 5 at that meeting at the blessing of the field in early 6 August of '07. 7 A The -- that meeting pretty much consisted 8 of Rich making comments to us. 9 Q That is not my question. 10 My question was: What did 11 President Garrison say, that you can recall? 12 A Following Rich's remarks, 13 President Garrison said very little, if anything; the 14 same way with Craig Walker and myself. 15 Q And Rich was just talking to the wall? 16 A He talked to us, and he -- and there were a 17 few occasions where Mr. Wilcox made some comments, and 18 Rita, and then we concluded the little session, and 19 went on to where the other people had gathered for 20 dinner, and where we were to meet them. 21 Q How long would you say this meeting, after 22 the blessing of the field, in early August lasted? 23 Half an hour, 45 minutes, an hour? 24 A I would say half hour to 45 minutes. 25 Q Okay. 25 1 And at any time did you, Mr. Walker, or 2 President Garrison, say, "No, Rich, we cannot do these 3 things you want?" 4 You can answer that yes or no. 5 A No. 6 Q Did you infer, at any time, or did 7 President Garrison or Craig Walker infer, at this 8 time, that you couldn't do some of the things Rich 9 wanted implemented? 10 MR. FLAHERTY: Object to the form of the 11 question. You can talk about -- you can get his 12 answer relative to his inference, but I don't -- 13 I can't imagine how he can respond to that on 14 behalf of the others. 15 Go ahead and answer, if you can. 16 A There was not much of re -- it was pretty 17 much some comments from Rich to us, and we listened to 18 them, and then we departed. 19 There was not a specific request, nor was 20 there a specific response from us. 21 Q So, you are telling the jury there were no 22 promises made at that meeting right after the blessing 23 of the field; is that true or false? 24 A I don't recall any promises being made at 25 that meeting. 26 1 Q Do you recall President Garrison saying, 2 "Trust me," or words of similar nature, to 3 Richard Rodriguez? 4 A I do not recall that occurring at that 5 meeting, no. 6 Q Do you recall those words being used by 7 President Garrison at any other meeting, involving you 8 and Richard Rodriguez? 9 A No. 10 Q Have you heard President Garrison use that 11 phrase, since he has been president, "Trust me," or 12 words of similar import? 13 A No. 14 Q How many meetings have you had with 15 President Garrison, since he took office? 16 A I meet with him for sure every two weeks 17 among his management team, and once a week. 18 But for sure, at least every two weeks, I 19 sit with him. 20 Q Okay. 21 Now, let's go on from this meeting in early 22 August at the blessing of the field. 23 Did you talk to the governor about the 24 comments that Richard Rodriguez made at the blessing? 25 You can answer that yes or no. 27 1 A Yes. 2 Q And what was the governor's reaction to 3 those comments? 4 A I don't believe there was much. 5 Q Did he say, "No, we are not going to do 6 it," "It is a great idea"? What was your take on it, 7 from your perspective? 8 A There was no response, really. 9 Q You must have thought it was fairly 10 important, that you would bring it up to the governor 11 of the State of West Virginia, Rich's comment? 12 A Well, you know, as I mentioned earlier, I 13 have many occasions where I speak with the governor, 14 and where the governor calls me. 15 Q I understand that. But my question is -- 16 A And I -- 17 MR. FLAHERTY: Let him finish his answer, 18 please. 19 Go ahead. 20 Q Okay. 21 A And in those particular discussions, there 22 is various things discussed, and in that meeting that 23 took place, there were a lot of people at the 24 blessing, so I just felt it relevant that it be 25 mentioned. 28 1 Q Was the governor at the blessing? 2 A No. 3 Q How soon after the blessing did you call 4 the governor, and tell him about Rich's comments; 5 within hours, within days, or weeks? 6 MR. FLAHERTY: Object to the form. It 7 assumes he made a call. 8 A I did not, following that meeting, make a 9 call to discuss that specific meeting, no. 10 Q Well, how soon was that communicated to the 11 governor, as best you can recall? 12 A Oh, it could have been weeks after that. 13 I mean, it was no -- 14 Q But it could have been hours, too; right? 15 A It wasn't hours, because we had a social 16 function to go to, which took the rest of the evening, 17 which Rich and Rita and Mona and I went to, several 18 other people were at. 19 Q Now, did you have any meetings with 20 Richard Rodriguez after the blessing in August of '07, 21 for the rest of the month of '07, August? 22 A I was with him. Whether we had a formal 23 meeting or not, I would always go over to practice, 24 and before practice talk with him, or go over to the 25 Puskar Center, go by the office and have discussions 29 1 with him. 2 Q Well, how many times would you say you had 3 a discussion with him between August 24th of '07 and 4 December 15th of '07? 5 He tells me it was two times. 6 A I'd say I talked with him weekly. 7 Q Face-to-face? 8 A Face-to-face, via telephone, traveling to 9 contests. 10 Q Football games? 11 A Yes. 12 Q Tell me which game in '07 that you went 13 with the football team on the plane to another field. 14 A Well, on away games? 15 Q Yes. 16 A I travel to all of the away games. 17 Q I understand you travel. I want to know 18 which games you went on the plane with the team and 19 Rich. 20 A Well -- 21 Q There weren't any of them; were there? 22 A I think I did travel with the team. 23 Q Well, I want you to tell me which game you 24 went with the team. 25 A There was some occasions, when I traveled 30 1 with the president -- 2 Q You are not answering my question. 3 A Yeah, I am trying -- 4 Q I want to know which game, away game, in 5 the season of 2007, football, that you got on the 6 plane with the team and Coach Rodriguez, and went to 7 another facility, another stadium, with them; if any. 8 A I can't give you that particular specific 9 game, or games. 10 Q You can't recall going with them at all; 11 can you? 12 A Well, I will say this: Most of the time I 13 do travel with the team, and most of the time it's on 14 a charter. 15 There are occasions when the president may 16 be going to the game, and if there is a seat I would 17 travel likewise there, do that. 18 As we get to the game, or the hotel we are 19 staying, then I always extended a courtesy to 20 Mrs. Rodriguez to sit with me, and she did sit with me 21 in my particular suite at the games, so -- 22 Q But you can't tell the jury specifically 23 any game that you flew with the team, during the '07 24 season, correct, even though they were rated in the 25 top five or ten in the country? 31 1 A If I were to have the time -- 2 Q Answer yes or no. 3 MR. FLAHERTY: Let him finish his answer. 4 A If I were to have the time to go back, and 5 look at my travel, at those particular weekends, then 6 I could answer that specifically. 7 But, my response is that most generally I 8 travel with the team, and if there are occasions where 9 I have an opportunity to travel with the president, or 10 for a fund raising opportunity, via an important 11 contributor, who may be taking a chartered aircraft, 12 then I do that occasionally. 13 But, then, always, that courtesy is to 14 Mrs. Rodriguez to sit with me at the ball game, and on 15 all occasions in '07, that occurred. 16 Q By the way, tell me, tell the jury about 17 the pass that you finally got for her, where she could 18 go from one booth to another, that she couldn't do for 19 the first six years while she was the wife of the head 20 coach. 21 MR. FLAHERTY: Object to the form. 22 A I was instructed to issue this pass to her, 23 but it's my opinion that she had always had that pass, 24 via myself, and via our sports information office. 25 And, to be quite frank, I was a bit 32 1 surprised that that was requested, because that pass 2 had always been there. 3 And second to that, we sell suites, and 4 those people who lease those particular suites, that 5 becomes their particular area for games, so we have 6 areas within the stadium that is for the Mountaineer 7 Athletic Club, for the foundation, the other suites 8 are individuals' particular suites, so we do not issue 9 opportunities for members of the department and so on, 10 to go into those people's suites. 11 Q Who instructed you to issue the pass; the 12 governor, or President Garrison? 13 A Craig Walker. 14 Q Craig Walker. 15 And, did Craig Walker used to report to 16 you? 17 A Yes. 18 Q And now you report to him? 19 A Yes. 20 Q Were you at the August 24th meeting with 21 Mr. Rodriguez, and Craig Walker and President 22 Garrison, when he executed the second amendment to his 23 contract? 24 A No. 25 Q Can you tell us why you, as the athletic 33 1 director, were not at that meeting? Were you out of 2 town? 3 A No, I was in town. 4 But it -- the policy was that if a 5 particular representative for the coach was involved 6 in contractual discussions, then it would be discussed 7 by university's legal counsel, or the university's 8 representatives, other than myself. 9 So I did not feel that unusual that they 10 did not invite me to that particular signing. 11 Q Well, was it unusual that the president of 12 the university and Craig Walker would be at that 13 negotiation, or signing? 14 A I have not thought much of that one way or 15 the other. I mean -- 16 Q Did you feel that you were being 17 sidestepped when Garrison and Walker took it upon 18 themselves to have the employment contract addendum 19 signed with Rodriguez, without you being involved? 20 A Not really. 21 MR. ROBON: Let's go off camera for a 22 second. 23 THE VIDEOGRAPHER: The time is 9:39 a.m., 24 we are going off the record. 25 (Recess taken.) 34 1 (Thereupon, Pastilong Exhibits B and C were 2 marked for identification.) 3 THE VIDEOGRAPHER: The time is 9:42 a.m., 4 we are back on the record. 5 BY MR. ROBON: 6 Q While we were on a break, Mr. Pastilong, I 7 handed you Exhibit B, which was the second addendum to 8 the employment contract for Richard Rodriguez; 9 correct? 10 A Yes, sir. 11 Q And you signed that on behalf of the 12 university, West Virginia University; did you not? 13 A Yes, sir. 14 Q And, did you sign it on the date that is on 15 the first page, August 24th of '07, or did you sign it 16 later? 17 A That date. 18 Q That date? 19 A That date, yes, sir. 20 Q Was it already signed by Richard Rodriguez 21 when you signed it, or did you sign it beforehand? 22 A It was already signed by Rich. 23 Q Okay. 24 And who handed you the contract to sign? 25 A Craig Walker. 35 1 Q Okay. 2 Did he come into your office with it? 3 A I went to Craig Walker's office. 4 Q Did he call you in, to come and sign it? 5 A He called me and asked me to come down 6 there, yes. 7 Q Okay. 8 Was this contract approved by the 9 Attorney General for the State of West Virginia, as 10 far as you know? 11 MR. FLAHERTY: Object to the form. 12 A You would have to ask our legal counsel in 13 that, I could not answer that. 14 Q You don't know? 15 A I don't know. 16 Q Had you seen this contract addendum prior 17 to your signing it? 18 A This particular one? 19 Q Yes. 20 A No. 21 Q Did you read it, before you signed it? 22 A I skimmed over it, yes. 23 Q Did you read it for content? 24 A Every detail? 25 Q Yes. 36 1 A No. 2 Q You were just told by Craig Walker to go 3 ahead and sign it; correct? 4 A Craig handed it to me, and I looked at the 5 areas other than the adjustments that Rich and our 6 attorneys were working out with regards to deferment, 7 and methods of payment, so the areas with regards to 8 improvements, renovations, and then the areas of -- 9 those specific areas I did look at, yes. 10 Q Okay. Did you see prior drafts of the 11 second addendum of Exhibit B? You can answer that yes 12 or no. 13 A Yes. 14 Q Were you involved in the negotiations of 15 Exhibit B? 16 Or were they handled by Craig Walker and 17 Michael Garrison? 18 A Those particular -- in the August area, and 19 as they got closer to this, it was pretty much handled 20 by our office of legal affairs, Craig Walker, and so 21 on. 22 Q And what's Craig Walker's official 23 position, for the jury, so they know? 24 A Craig is chief of staff to the president. 25 Q Okay. 37 1 And, both he and the president have law 2 degrees? 3 A Craig Walker does not. 4 Q He does not? 5 A No. 6 Q The president does? 7 A Yes. 8 Q Now, did Craig Walker or President Garrison 9 tell you on what condition Richard Rodriguez signed 10 Exhibit B? 11 A No. 12 Q Did he send you a memorandum of what you 13 needed to do in the athletic department, right after 14 this contract was signed? 15 A Craig sent me a memorandum, and it 16 contained some direction, but it contained areas 17 that -- for discussion. 18 Q You didn't take them as a directive, things 19 that you should implement? 20 A There was -- 21 Q You can answer that yes or no, either you 22 took it as a directive, or you didn't. 23 MR. FLAHERTY: Let him finish his answer, 24 please. 25 A There was a couple of directives in there, 38 1 and then there were areas for discussion that we would 2 meet on later on. 3 Q And which of the areas of discussion, or 4 directives, did you in fact implement, if any? 5 A There was one directive there to issue a 6 pass to Rita Rodriguez, which we did. 7 Q Okay. 8 A But as I said earlier, it was our feeling 9 in the athletic department, that that privilege had 10 already been acknowledged. 11 Q Right. 12 A And if it hadn't -- 13 Q What other directives, or suggestions did 14 you implement, if any? 15 A The issuance of all sideline passes to 16 Coach Rodriguez to distribute. 17 I believe those were the two, that I can 18 recall. 19 Q Did you implement the request that he 20 wanted additional moneys for the assisting coaches? 21 A We had already done that. 22 Q When you say you had already done it, he 23 had requested an additional, I believe $120,000; was 24 that money put up? 25 MR. FLAHERTY: Object to the form of the 39 1 question. 2 A In months prior to that, he had requested 3 additional moneys for assistant coaches, and we had 4 implemented that into their salaries. 5 Q But not to the extent he wanted? 6 A To the extent, yes. 7 Q The amount he wanted? 8 A Yes. 9 Q You implemented them? 10 A Yes, sir. 11 Q Oh, that's interesting. 12 Now, did you implement not charging high 13 school coaches to come to games? 14 A Did not implement that. 15 Q Can you please tell me, what would be the 16 rationale of a big university like West Virginia, to 17 charge a high school coach, who might help with your 18 recruiting, and everything, not give him a free 19 ticket; I don't understand the logic of that. 20 A Well, years -- years ago, the practice was 21 that a high school coach would pay $5, be issued a 22 ticket, and so on. 23 And that was prior to my becoming athletic 24 director, and I have been athletic director for a 25 number of years now. 40 1 And we felt that it was a good practice, in 2 that the high school coach would come, identify 3 himself, sign, and make the payment of $5, and we had 4 a means of recording who had come to the games. 5 And, he had asked for that, and we felt 6 that it was a good practice, and we would go ahead and 7 continue it. 8 Q What about giving the students, allowing 9 them to keep their textbooks at the end of the 10 semester? 11 A Rich had asked if we would do that. 12 We had discussion with regards to that, in 13 fact, the discussion is continuing. 14 I met with our compliance officer, to see 15 the -- if that policy could be implemented, and if it 16 was implemented, what the good features would be, what 17 the poor features would be, discovered that if you 18 were to issue these textbooks to a student athlete, 19 that the student athlete must keep the textbook in 20 their hands until the semester was completely over. 21 And in discussions with our compliance 22 coordinator, there was concern as to a student athlete 23 receiving the book in September, selling it in 24 September, and then us having a violation. 25 Second problem that the compliance officer 41 1 indicated to me, was that if you implemented this with 2 student athletes, it must be implemented across the 3 board with the entire student body. 4 So, I was of the opinion that we should, at 5 that time, not do that, but at the very -- but 6 continue the discussion of it. 7 But, as a result of that discussion with my 8 compliance coordinator, I just -- I was hesitant to 9 suggest that. 10 Q And did you -- when did you tell Rich that 11 you weren't going to do that? 12 A I had a discussion with Rich, and indicated 13 those concerns. 14 Q No, my question is, when did you tell him 15 you weren't going to do it? 16 A Well, I had -- 17 Q Just give me a date. 18 MR. FLAHERTY: Let him finish his answer, 19 Mr. Robon. 20 A I had a -- as a result of that memo that I 21 had received, I had set up a meeting with Mr. Walker, 22 President Garrison, and presented my position in terms 23 of my concerns. 24 Q Without Richard Rodriguez being there? 25 Correct? 42 1 A I had attempted to have -- to set up a 2 meeting with the four of us, but his indications were 3 that he was rather busy, and so on. 4 So I went ahead and put the meeting 5 together with the three of us, so that I could share 6 with others my position, my concern, so that we could 7 continue to discuss that particular subject. 8 Q Isn't it true that you felt that 9 Craig Walker and President Garrison were impinging 10 upon your domain in the athletic department? 11 A That's incorrect. 12 Q That's not correct? 13 A No, it isn't. 14 Q Didn't you call the governor's office, and 15 tell the governor what Craig Walker and 16 President Garrison wanted? 17 A I don't believe I did that. 18 Q You didn't talk to the governor about it? 19 A About those particular issues we are 20 talking about? 21 Q Yes. 22 A I do not think I did that. I don't -- 23 Q Isn't it true that -- well, let me ask this 24 question: Were you aware of the promises that 25 Michael Garrison and Craig Walker made to 43 1 Rich Rodriguez -- 2 MR. FLAHERTY: Object to the form. 3 Q -- at the signing of the second addendum of 4 the contract? 5 MR. FLAHERTY: Same objection. 6 A I could not speak to that, I was not there. 7 Q Were you aware of it, though? 8 A I can't -- again, I can't speak to it. 9 I -- if I wasn't there, I -- 10 Q Well, I understand. But do you know what 11 hearsay is? Did you hear about those promises? 12 MR. FLAHERTY: Object to the form. 13 A I did not hear of any promises. 14 Q Well, you got the memo from Craig Walker, 15 so you knew something was discussed; right? 16 A I got the memo, yes. 17 (Thereupon, Pastilong Exhibit D was marked 18 for identification.) 19 THE VIDEOGRAPHER: I need to change. 20 MR. ROBON: Yeah, go ahead and change. 21 Are you done with it, or -- 22 THE VIDEOGRAPHER: The time is 9:56 a.m., 23 we are going off the record, this concludes 24 tape 1. 25 (Discussion off the record.) 44 1 (Recess taken.) 2 THE VIDEOGRAPHER: The time is 10:07 a.m., 3 we are back on the record, this begins tape 2. 4 BY MR. ROBON: 5 Q Mr. Pastilong, I have handed you Exhibit D, 6 which is a memorandum from Craig Walker, chief of 7 staff, to you, dated August 27th of '07. That's the 8 memo we were talking about previously; correct? 9 A Yes, sir. 10 Q And, you received this in the ordinary 11 course of your duties as athletic director? 12 A Yes. 13 Q And you indicated that you -- you gave the 14 pass to Rita Rodriguez. 15 Did you do any of these other things that 16 he has requested in this memorandum? 17 A I initiated the -- all of the field passes 18 to be administered by Rich. 19 I -- I prepared the review of the 20 regulations as requested here, regarding the seven 21 graduate assistant strength positions, and I prepared 22 that in -- I had my compliance person prepare that, 23 and he and I discussed that. 24 Q And you already talked about the student 25 athletes. What about page 2? You will arrange -- it 45 1 says, "Arrange for seatings in the lower student 2 section for basketball games for football recruits." 3 Did you do that? 4 A That was done, but -- yes, we did that. 5 Q Okay. 6 A And then we did the pass to Rita. 7 Q It says, "During the month of September, I 8 will arrange" -- I being Craig Walker -- "a meeting 9 with President Garrison, Coach Rodriguez and you, to 10 discuss future football scheduling." Did that take 11 place? 12 A There was the meeting with -- as I 13 mentioned earlier, with President Garrison, 14 Craig Walker and myself, to discuss some of these 15 issues, but as I explained earlier, Rich was busy, and 16 could not attend. 17 However, the football scheduling we did not 18 discuss, and I might add here that Rich was 19 encouraged, by me, to take part in scheduling, and it 20 was encouraged. 21 Q Well, my next question for you is: How 22 many times, between the blessing of the field, in 23 early August of '07, and December 15th of '07, did you 24 physically have a meeting with Rich Rodriguez, 25 relating to the athletic department, and his being the 46 1 football coach? 2 MR. FLAHERTY: The question has been asked 3 and answered. 4 A You know, as I said earlier, I would have 5 talked to Rich pretty much weekly; whether I visited 6 with him, whether I phoned him, there was a continuous 7 communication. 8 Q So if there is four weeks in a month, and 9 there is four weeks in August, September, October, 10 November, that is 16 -- that 18 weeks; 18 times? 11 A Oh, I would say at least that, where he and 12 I had conversations. 13 Q And if he said it was only twice, he would 14 be wrong? 15 A Well, my feeling was, we met. 16 Q Tell me about the 1100 Club, and the 17 missing funds, approximately $200,000. 18 A There are no funds missing, that I know of. 19 Our associate athletic director for finance 20 has a continuous reconciling -- reconciling of our 21 accounts, and that particular fund is handled 22 responsibly, and there are no missing funds. 23 Q Isn't it true that Rich Rodriguez set up 24 the 1100 Club with special donations from supporters? 25 A Well, he brought that -- 47 1 Q You can answer that yes or no. 2 MR. FLAHERTY: Let him answer it any way he 3 wants, please. 4 A He brought that particular concept to my 5 attention, and I found it to be a good idea. 6 I discussed it with my associate AD for 7 finance, and he said that it was doable, and I asked 8 him to set it up in the foundation, and he did such. 9 I talked with our Mountaineer Athletic Club 10 representatives, and then got back with Rich, and we 11 began that particular 1100 Club and, in cooperation 12 with Rich, all of us put that particular club 13 together, and it is quite successful. 14 I will say this, Rich has spearheaded that, 15 and he has been the person in front of that, and he 16 has done an exceptional job with regards to that. 17 Q Was there a specific purpose for the 18 1100 Club? 19 A The specific purpose was to assist our 20 football coaches in recruiting, so that they could get 21 to particular student athletes' areas more readily. 22 And this has been successful. 23 Q It was for air travel; correct? 24 A I'm sorry, yeah, it was to charter 25 aircraft. 48 1 Q Apparently West Virginia University doesn't 2 have an airplane that is available to the coaches? 3 A The university charters aircraft, a 4 aircraft, but it is not exclusively for the football 5 coaches. 6 Q Well, does the university own an airplane? 7 A No. 8 Q Okay. 9 So, the money from the 1100 Club was going 10 to allow for charters, so the coaches could go to 11 various difficult places to get, in a private airport; 12 correct? 13 A That's correct. 14 Q And wasn't there about $200,000 that was 15 taken out of the 1100 Club, for something other than 16 for flying? 17 A In discussions with Rich, and again our 18 associate athletic director for finance, it was felt 19 best if we were to put the parameters to the 20 1100 Club's spending, and entitle that "Recruiting," 21 and some of those funds were used for recruiting 22 purposes; housing the recruits on campus. 23 But they all fell within the parameters of 24 what was described permissible under that 1100 Club. 25 Q Was there -- 49 1 A And that was in discussions, and Rich took 2 part in those discussions. 3 Q Was there a charter saying what the purpose 4 of the 1100 Club was? 5 A There is a -- there is guidelines as to how 6 the moneys are spent, regarding the 1100 Club. 7 Q Okay. 8 Take a look at Exhibit C. 9 Is this your employment agreement? 10 A Yes. 11 Q And you are the head of the athletic 12 department; right? 13 A Yes. 14 Q And in a corporate charter, you would have 15 the board of governors at the top, and then the 16 president, and then probably Craig Walker, and then 17 there would be another level, athletic director, dean 18 of students, things like that? 19 A I don't know about the dean of students, 20 but what you described, excluding the dean of 21 students, that would be fairly close. 22 Q Who would be on the same level with you? 23 A I would think like directors of the 24 department of public safety, those types of 25 departments, outside of the academic arena. 50 1 Q Academic area. Okay. 2 And, you have been with the university how 3 many years? 4 A 33 years. 5 Q Okay. 6 And, I notice in your contract, there is no 7 penalty if you decide to leave. 8 MR. FLAHERTY: Object to the form of the 9 question. 10 BY MR. ROBON: 11 Q Is that true? 12 A There -- 13 MR. FLAHERTY: The contract speaks for 14 itself. 15 MR. ROBON: He can answer. 16 A There are no areas there for liquidated 17 damages. 18 Q Okay. If you left the university, wouldn't 19 it be difficult to replace you, a person of your 20 stature, running the place for 33 years, putting it on 21 the map? 22 A That would be best answered by the people I 23 report to. 24 Q Well, I want to know what your opinion is. 25 A Well, I would think that as in this 51 1 particular contract, where I would give sufficient 2 notice, in this particular case, two years, so that 3 the president and those people in position to 4 reappoint another athletic director, if they had 5 sufficient time, I think that they would certainly do 6 that quite adequately. 7 Q Can you tell the jury how difficult it is 8 for a person in your position, as athletic director, 9 where you have an annualized salary of 225,000, plus 10 some bonuses, to supervise a basketball or a football 11 coach that makes a multiple of what you make? 12 A I have not found that to be difficult, 13 and -- 14 Q It doesn't grind you sometimes? 15 A No. 16 Q Never thought about it? 17 A Never thought about it. 18 Q Tell me when liquidated damages, or penalty 19 provisions, first were implemented as a policy at West 20 Virginia University. 21 MR. FLAHERTY: Object to the form of the 22 question. The use of the word "penalty." 23 What are you asking him for? What are you 24 asking him for; whether there was -- liquidated 25 damages were implemented, or whether there is a 52 1 penalty clause? 2 There is two different things. 3 MR. ROBON: Well, I refer to them as 4 simultaneous. 5 MR. FLAHERTY: We, we don't, and there is a 6 legal distinction between them, so you will have 7 to separate them in your question. 8 MR. ROBON: Well, we will separate it, 9 Mr. Flaherty. 10 BY MR. ROBON: 11 Q Tell the jury when West Virginia 12 University, for the very first time, put a damage 13 provision in an employment contract of a coach. 14 A This is to the best that I can recollect. 15 We were hiring Rich in 2000, and there was 16 a considerable amount of input as to the letter of 17 agreement, and that particular -- and I believe he had 18 an attorney by the name of Mr. Davis, and at his 19 suggestion, and at his writing that letter of 20 agreement, the liquidated damage clause was 21 implemented. 22 I believe that was the first time that we 23 had put together a form, where liquidated damages was 24 a part of the agreement. 25 Q Was that the lawyer from Boston? 53 1 A His name was Davis. And he was -- I don't 2 know where he was from. 3 Q Okay. 4 Do you recall what the amount of liquidated 5 damage was, in the very first contract? 6 A It was -- I believe it was equal to the 7 salary times the number of years remaining on the 8 contract. 9 Q And did Mr. Davis indicate that he wanted 10 the liquidated damages provision in case the 11 university fired the coach? 12 A I -- I believe it was if the coach was 13 terminated, but I also believe there was the exchange 14 of conversations between Mr. Davis and WVU also, if 15 the coach had departed prior to that. 16 Q And, did you feel that the arrangement 17 being the coach's salary times the number of years 18 remaining on his contract was a fair method of 19 compensating the coach and the university, back in the 20 year 2000, when this was first implemented by West 21 Virginia University? 22 A Well, Mr. Davis introduced that idea to us. 23 Q I understand that. 24 A And his indications were, that this was 25 being done by -- throughout the country, and following 54 1 that discussion, we went ahead and put that in the 2 particular agreement. 3 Q My question was: Did you, as the athletic 4 director, Mr. Pastilong, believe that the formula, 5 that was in the original contract in the year 2000, 6 which is, if he got terminated, the university would 7 pay him his salary times the years left on his 8 contract, did you believe that was fair? 9 A It seemed reasonable, and we accepted that, 10 all -- 11 Q Okay. 12 A -- after discussions with our attorneys, 13 and everybody, and -- 14 Q And likewise, if he left it was reasonable, 15 or you felt it was fair, the number of years left 16 times his salary? 17 A At that time, it seemed to be reasonable, 18 yes. 19 Q Did you then implement that policy with the 20 basketball coach? 21 A We hired a basketball coach following that, 22 and at the request of the basketball coach, we 23 implemented that policy, similar. 24 Q Are those the only two programs that have 25 those liquidated damages clauses, basketball and 55 1 football? 2 A There may be one other, in one of our 3 Olympic sports right now, but I cannot confirm that 4 right here. 5 Q Which one do you think it might be? 6 A It may be in the soccer and/or women's 7 basketball, but I cannot confirm that, I would have to 8 go back and just double check. 9 Q Okay. 10 How many different sports are here at West 11 Virginia University, both men's and women's? 12 A 17. 13 Q So at the most, three of the 17 have 14 liquidated damages provisions in their contract? 15 A That would be correct. 16 Q Now, you mentioned that you talked to 17 Coach Rodriguez weekly between the blessing of the 18 football field and December 15th of '07; correct? 19 A Approximation, yes. 20 Q Tell me what happened on December 15th, 21 that was a Saturday, with Mr. Rodriguez; did he come 22 to see you? 23 A December 15. 24 Q Of '07? 25 A Saturday. 56 1 I went to his office. 2 Q Okay. 3 Did he call you to come to his office? 4 A Craig Walker and I called him, I believe, 5 and set up a meeting at his office. 6 Q Okay. 7 When did you call him; that day, or 8 earlier? 9 A I do not recall. 10 Q Did you meet with Craig Walker prior to the 11 time that you went over and met with Coach Rodriguez? 12 A A meeting? 13 Q Yes. 14 A I don't think we did. I just think we met 15 there. 16 Q Did you have a telephone conference, or 17 conversations with Craig Walker, before you had the 18 meeting with Coach Rodriguez? 19 A To the best that I can recollect, it was 20 called either his way, or my way, and "Let's go meet 21 with Rich." 22 There wasn't any meeting, discussion, or 23 set plans, or anything. 24 Q What was the purpose of the meeting; the 25 meeting with Mr. Rodriguez on December 15th of '07? 57 1 A To encourage him to remain as our football 2 coach. 3 Q And how did you know that he might not 4 remain as the football coach? 5 A There had been reports, it was on 6 television. 7 Q Okay. 8 Where did this meeting take place? 9 A At Rich's office. 10 Q Okay. 11 And did he tell you what he needed, in 12 order to stay at West Virginia University? 13 A Not specifically. 14 I mean, he talked considerably, and Craig 15 and I listened, and -- and encouraged him to remain 16 with us. 17 Q Did you tell him anything would be 18 different, if he stayed? 19 A There was a general indication that we 20 would continue to work with him, and to continue to 21 strengthen the football program. 22 Q Did you feel personally, that the football 23 program and the autonomous nature of Coach Rodriguez, 24 was interfering with your duties as the athletic 25 director? 58 1 A No. 2 Q Did he ask you whether or not, or did he 3 ask Craig Walker, either one of you, whether the 4 promises that were made to him on or about August 24th 5 of '07, would be kept? 6 MR. FLAHERTY: Object to the form of the 7 question, and the assumption contained in it. 8 BY MR. ROBON: 9 Q You can answer. 10 A Well, I do not recall that particular 11 question, or anything of that nature being, 12 specifically. It was general comments from Rich. 13 Q Well, tell the jury what those general 14 comments were, as best you can recall. 15 A He -- he brought up a little history about 16 how he had implemented some things in the program. 17 He indicated a couple of times the 18 difficulty of winning football games. 19 Those types of issues. 20 And, there was not a specific set number of 21 items that he indicated to us at that meeting. 22 Q Did he say to you, "Are you going to change 23 things?" 24 A I don't think he -- I don't think he said 25 that. 59 1 Q Did he -- 2 A I don't recall that, no. 3 Q Did he say -- or did Craig Walker, and/or 4 you say, "No, we are not going to implement certain 5 things"? 6 A At one point he indicated, he brought up 7 that there were some areas that he wanted us to 8 implement, and he wanted an answer right then. 9 And -- 10 Q Right then, being on December 15th? 11 A Yes. 12 Q And what answer did you give him? 13 A That we would continue to work with him, 14 and that we very much wanted him to remain as our 15 coach, and that if he wanted a specific yes or no to 16 areas such as additional -- seven additional strength 17 coaches, the issuance of the textbooks, and so on, 18 that I could not give him a yes right then; that I 19 would continue to have those discussions with him, as 20 we had been, and that's how -- that's what -- that's 21 what the response was. 22 Q So the answer was, you couldn't make those 23 commitments? 24 MR. FLAHERTY: Object to the form. He just 25 answered, told you what the answer was. 60 1 A I told him I would continue to look, 2 continue to discuss, but if he wanted me to answer at 3 that point, right then, that I could not give him a 4 yes right then, at that very moment. 5 Q So you gave him a no at the moment? 6 MR. FLAHERTY: Object to the form. 7 A No, I did not give him a no. 8 Q Okay. You just said you couldn't do it 9 immediately? 10 A I said if he wanted me to at that point, he 11 said, "Tell me yes, you are going to do it, tell me 12 no, you are going to do it," my response was, "If you 13 are asking me to say yes, I am going to do this right 14 now, I am not" -- "I'm" -- "I will not give you the 15 response you want right now, I want to continue to 16 look and discuss, and work on these issues." 17 Q Did you feel, from his perspective, that 18 that was the deciding factor for him to leave West 19 Virginia University, that you would not make a 20 commitment that you would say yes on these issues that 21 he wanted? 22 MR. FLAHERTY: Object to the form, calls 23 for speculation. 24 A No. 25 Q He didn't ask for more money; did he? 61 1 A At that point? 2 Q Yes. 3 A Specifically? 4 Q Yes. 5 A No. 6 Q Okay. 7 So his meeting with you didn't deal with 8 money, it dealt with other issues in the athletic 9 football program; correct? 10 A At that meeting, I do recall him talking 11 about other salaries at other schools, referring to 12 "Being paid similar to my peers," et cetera. 13 Q But he didn't ask you for a raise to stay, 14 and you didn't offer it? 15 A No. 16 Q What did Craig Walker say at that meeting 17 on December 15th of '07? 18 A It was pretty much Rich talking to Craig 19 and I. 20 And neither of us said much, other than we 21 would work with him, and our -- that we would continue 22 to make a strong commitment to the program, as in the 23 past, and that we wanted it -- him to continue with 24 us. 25 Q Did you tell him that you would put the 62 1 $200,000, approximately, that was taken out of the 2 Mountaineer Club, and put it back in the air fare 3 category? 4 MR. FLAHERTY: Object to the form. 5 Object to the form. 6 What's the Mountaineer Club? 7 Q The 1100 Club? 8 A No. 9 Q Did he ask you to? 10 A No. 11 Q Did he ask Craig Walker to? 12 A I don't recall at that meeting, that being 13 discussed. 14 Q Was that at another meeting it was 15 discussed, prior to December 15th of '07? 16 A I don't recall it. 17 Q You don't ever recall him, him being 18 Rich Rodriguez, asking that the moneys that were spent 19 out of the 1100 Club be replenished, so that he and 20 his coaches could have charter air fare? 21 A I do recall a conversation with my 22 associate athletic director, for finance -- 23 Q What was his name? 24 A Russ Sharp. 25 Q Okay. 63 1 A -- and a confirmation, via he and I, and he 2 confirming that with Rich, that the purpose of the 3 1100 Club was for recruiting. 4 And as such, on occasion, funds could -- 5 would be used for recruits on campuses, lodging, 6 meals, et cetera. 7 MR. ROBON: Let's mark this as E. 8 (Thereupon, Pastilong Exhibit E was marked 9 for identification.) 10 BY MR. ROBON: 11 Q I am going do hand you what we have marked 12 as Exhibit E, which is a memo to you from Russ Sharp, 13 dated August 27th of '07. 14 And ask if you can identify that document. 15 And does it deal with the 1100 Club? 16 A Okay. 17 Q The answer is yes, it does relate? 18 A Help me. 19 Q My question was: The memo from Russ Sharp, 20 dated August 27th, '07, does it relate to the 21 1100 Club, the last paragraph. 22 MR. FLAHERTY: Solely? 23 Q The last paragraph. 24 A The last paragraph? 25 Q Yes. 64 1 A Yes. 2 Q And does this memo from Mr. Sharp, who was 3 your assistant -- 4 A Associate. 5 Q -- associate, state that the funds in the 6 football enrichment fund, which were $588,562, will be 7 used primarily to reimburse the department for costs 8 related to construction projects related to football, 9 as opposed to air travel expenses for the coaches? 10 A And you are correct. And those moneys, 11 Russ indicated to Rich that they were used for 12 football enrichment programs in a cash flow situation, 13 and that they would be replaced, and they were 14 replaced, and everyone knew that that was a function 15 that was taking place, it wasn't like it was 16 inappropriate. 17 Q You mean you borrowed the money from the 18 1100 Club to use it for a purpose other than what was 19 set forth in the charter of the 1100 Club; is that 20 what you are telling this jury? 21 A That's correct. 22 Q And tell the jury when you replaced the 23 moneys. 24 A I would have to check with Mr. Sharp on 25 that. But they are replaced. 65 1 Q They were replaced after Rich complained 2 about it? 3 A No. 4 Q Before he complained about it? 5 A They were replaced as Mr. Sharp felt 6 sufficient funds were available. 7 Q And where did the funds come from, to 8 replace the funds that were taken out of the 1100 Club 9 account? 10 A I would have to have Mr. Sharp answer that. 11 Q Did they come from the foundation, or the 12 university; to your knowledge? 13 A I cannot confirm this, but it would be my 14 guesstimate that they came out of the foundation 15 funds, with regards to that enrichment account. 16 Q When you left this meeting on 17 December 15th with Mr. Walker and Mr. Rodriguez -- 18 first of all, tell the jury how long that meeting 19 lasted. 20 A Less than an hour. 21 Q And when you walked out of that meeting, 22 what conclusion did you reach? 23 That Rich was going to stay or leave? 24 Or you didn't know? 25 A I did not know. 66 1 Q Did he tell you he would stay if these 2 promises, that were made to him, were implemented, and 3 not just you would continue to work on them? 4 A No. 5 Q Did he infer that? 6 A No. 7 Q Did you know he had an offer from Michigan 8 at that time? 9 A No. 10 Q He didn't tell you? I thought you said you 11 heard it on the radio, or in the newspaper? 12 A I don't believe he told me. 13 Q But you knew about it? 14 A Well, I mean, I had heard. 15 Q Okay. 16 A But I had no confirmation. 17 Q Would you say he was one of the most 18 successful coaches in West Virginia University 19 history, in the football program? 20 A He was a successful coach. 21 Q Okay. 22 Liked by the athletes? 23 A You would have to ask the athletes that. 24 Q Well, you are the athletic director, you 25 sure ought to know, if anybody would know. 67 1 MR. FLAHERTY: Object to the form. 2 A There were some athletes that over the 3 years were upset with his methods. 4 Q His regimentation? 5 A And then there were some who liked to be 6 coached in his particular manner. 7 Q Well, let's -- let me ask this question, so 8 the jury has a better perception: On a scale of 1 to 9 10, with 10 being the best, how would you rate coach 10 Rodriguez's performance at West Virginia University, 11 in the last five years? 12 A I would say high. 13 Q More than 5? 14 A I would prefer to say high. 15 I mean, I don't -- I wouldn't want to be 16 quantitative. 17 Q Do you think he could have done better? 18 A He coached some exceptional games, and then 19 there were some games that he, himself, indicated that 20 he would have liked to have coached over. 21 Q Like the Pitt game? 22 A I'd say that's one of them. 23 Q Well, my question is: I'm assuming you and 24 Craig Walker did not want him to leave West Virginia 25 University; is that accurate or inaccurate? 68 1 A That's accurate. 2 Q And would you say that at the time 3 West Virginia was rated in the top ten in the nation? 4 A Yes. 5 Q You had won the Big East Conference? 6 A Yes. 7 Q By the way, did you ever congratulate him 8 for doing that? 9 A Yes. 10 Q When? 11 A I spoke to him and congratulated him, and 12 complimented him, yes. 13 Q Do you remember when? 14 A That doesn't come to me right now, readily. 15 Q But -- and he got the West Virginia team 16 into a bowl game for a second time in a row? 17 A Yes. 18 Q Did you congratulate him for that? 19 A I congratulated him, but I don't know if I 20 went and said, "Congratulations for being in a bowl 21 gauge two years in a row," so -- 22 Q Didn't you think, as athletic director -- 23 and how many students are at West Virginia? 24 A 26, 27, 28 thousand, something like that. 25 Q Okay. 69 1 And does the school have a budget in excess 2 of a half a billion dollars; 500 million? 3 A People like Craig Walker and Narvel Weese, 4 they would -- I don't -- I couldn't talk in terms of 5 what the university's total budget is. 6 Q But you talked about the athletic budget 7 was what, 48 million? 8 A It is in that area, yes, sir. 9 Q With a budget of $48 million, didn't you 10 feel that an individual who has broad honor and 11 respect, success, fame, recognition to this 12 university, that you would do whatever it took to keep 13 him? 14 MR. FLAHERTY: Object to the form of the 15 question. 16 Q Didn't you feel that way? 17 A Well, I told Rich straightforward, that we 18 wanted him to remain with us. 19 Q Did you talk to the governor the night 20 before you had that meeting with Rich Rodriguez and 21 Craig Walker? 22 MR. FLAHERTY: Which night, which meeting? 23 BY MR. ROBON: 24 Q The meeting on December 15th, which would 25 be the night you called the governor's office on the 70 1 14th, as your records show? 2 A And if -- and what did I -- you are asking, 3 what did I say to the governor? 4 Q Yes. What did the governor tell you to do? 5 A I don't recall any specific direction from 6 the governor. 7 Q Did you tell him you were meeting with 8 Mr. Rodriguez and Mr. Walker in the morning? 9 A I don't recall if we had that conversation. 10 I am not a hundred percent sure if Mr. Walker and I 11 didn't talk that morning, and put the meeting 12 together. I -- 13 Q But the governor knew about the meeting 14 with you and Rich Rodriguez; right? 15 A I can't confirm that. I don't know. 16 Q Did you call the governor and seek approval 17 of your plan of action with Mr. Rodriguez? 18 A To have that meeting? 19 Q Yes. 20 A No. 21 Q Rich Rodriguez supported you in your -- 22 when he first came here to the university; didn't he? 23 MR. FLAHERTY: Object to the form. Do you 24 want to define "support"? 25 Q Well, the former president was thinking 71 1 about terminating you; was he not? 2 A He had not indicated that to me. 3 Q Mr. Hardesty, President Hardesty? 4 A He had not stated that to me, no. 5 Q Well, by actions, did you feel that perhaps 6 your job was in jeopardy, back in the year 2000-2001? 7 A The president had asked for a strategic 8 plan, and a presentation to he and the board of 9 governors with regard to the athletic department, and 10 I felt that went very, very well. And we followed 11 that plan, and I am pleased to say we have been quite 12 successful. 13 Q But you are not answering my question. 14 After Rich went 3 and 8 in his first year 15 here at West Virginia, didn't President Hardesty think 16 about removing him and you, in the athletic 17 department? 18 A Well, Rich's first year was 3 and 8. It 19 was a difficult year. And following that year, Rich 20 asked for an extension of his contract for recruiting 21 purposes, and to indicate a strong commitment from us. 22 I led that particular request, granted it, 23 I got permission from the president, and various 24 people, and went public because I felt that Rich had 25 potential, and that in order for him to be successful, 72 1 we needed to make a strong commitment both ways. 2 And so I extended that contract. Got some 3 criticism. 4 Q And you made the right decision, though; 5 didn't you? 6 A I was pleased. 7 Q Yeah, everybody was, after the fact. 8 But at the time, Rich stood behind you, 9 didn't he, and said, "Don't put the blame on the 10 athletic director"; correct? 11 A We stood beside each other. 12 Q And you were friendly in that regard; 13 right? 14 A Yes. And we remain friendly. 15 A And at the time, Joe Manchin was not 16 governor of the State of West Virginia; was he? 17 A That's correct. 18 Q And there was a time when Joe Manchin was 19 running for governor, and the president of the 20 university was supporting a different individual? 21 A I can't speak for the president, as to who 22 he was supporting. 23 Q Well, don't you remember President Hardesty 24 supporting the other candidate, and Joe Manchin said, 25 "I want you to come to a fund raiser;" do you remember 73 1 that? 2 A I remember him asking to be in attendance 3 at a fund raiser, yes. 4 Q Did you attend? 5 A No. 6 Q Rich attended; didn't he? 7 A Yes. 8 Q And he was being criticized by the 9 president, President Hardesty, for attending; correct? 10 A I can't confirm that, no. 11 Q Wasn't Rich kind of his own man, said, 12 "This has got nothing to do with the university, I 13 want to support Joe Manchin, I have known him all my 14 life, so I am going to go"? 15 Do you recall that? 16 A He -- I recall him going there, yes. 17 Q Did you know that Joe Manchin, the 18 governor, called Rich on more than one occasion, in 19 December of '07? 20 A I'm sure they did. I mean, they were 21 friends. 22 Q Did you know that he called him on 23 Christmas day? 24 A I don't know if he did. 25 Q Could you explain to me -- you know 74 1 Joe Manchin, right, the governor? 2 A Yeah. 3 Q Quite well; right? 4 A Yes. 5 Q Could you explain to me how he could call, 6 and be nice to an individual on Christmas day, and 7 then on December 27th, two days later, have the 8 university sue him? 9 MR. FLAHERTY: Object to the form of the 10 question. An assumption that the governor had 11 the university sue him. 12 A I can't speak to that. 13 Q Do you believe, Mr. Pastilong, that 14 Joe Manchin is the one who directed the lawsuit 15 against Rich Rodriguez? Yes or no. 16 A I can't speak to that. 17 Q Do you think Governor Manchin is 18 controlling this lawsuit? 19 A I can't speak to that. 20 Q Who do you think is making the final 21 decisions in this lawsuit? 22 A I can't speak to that either. 23 Q Do you know if it's the board of governors, 24 do you know if it's the president, do you know if it's 25 Mr. Manchin? 75 1 A I don't have the answer to that question. 2 Q Have you been involved in any of the 3 discussions of this lawsuit, other than for your 4 testimony? 5 A No. 6 Q So you have been on the outside, so to 7 speak, not part of the inner circle? 8 A Is that a question? 9 Q That's a question. You weren't part of the 10 inner circle? 11 MR. FLAHERTY: Do you want to define the 12 inner circle? 13 MR. ROBON: Inner circle dealing with this 14 litigation. 15 MR. FLAHERTY: If you know what that means, 16 go ahead and answer. 17 A That wouldn't be my area of responsibility. 18 Q Did you -- when you heard about the 19 promises that were made to Coach Rodriguez on 20 August 24th of '07, did you know that some of those 21 promises would not be immediately implemented? 22 MR. FLAHERTY: Object to the form of the 23 question, and the assumption of promises. 24 A I don't know if promises were made, I was 25 not there. 76 1 Q Okay. Well, when you got these two memos, 2 these exhibits from Russ Sharp and Craig Walker, you 3 assumed there had to have been some discussion about 4 promises; correct? 5 MR. FLAHERTY: Object to the form. 6 A I am not going to assume. 7 Q Isn't it true that the governor even went 8 on public radio about Coach Rodriguez leaving? 9 A He made some comments, but I -- I can't 10 recall the specifics of them. 11 Q Did you listen to his comments on the radio 12 show, the interview? 13 A I don't think I heard that particular show. 14 Q Did you hear about it? 15 A I heard about it, I'm sure. 16 Q Why don't you tell the jury what you heard 17 about it? 18 MR. FLAHERTY: Object. It's hearsay. 19 Go ahead and answer. 20 A I don't know specifically what he said, I 21 did not -- did not hear it. 22 Q I just want to know what you heard about 23 it, what your perception was, what was said? 24 A That he made comments about it. 25 Q What were his comments? 77 1 A I don't know what his comments were. 2 Q Didn't he say, "We are going to collect 3 every penny of that $4 million"? 4 A I did not hear him say it. 5 Q Did you hear that someone else told you 6 that he said it? 7 A I heard that. 8 Q Okay. 9 As head of the athletic department, can you 10 explain to me -- and I consider myself a fairly 11 worldly person -- why in the world the governor would 12 get involved in the firing of a head coach? 13 MR. FLAHERTY: Object to the form and the 14 assumption. 15 Q Or the head coach leaving? 16 A I can't speak to that. 17 Q Okay. 18 Would you say the governor of this state 19 meddles in everything that he can, has control over? 20 A No. 21 Q No. 22 But he is involved in the athletic 23 department; correct? 24 MR. FLAHERTY: Object to the form. He has 25 already asked and answered that. 78 1 A And I told you the involvement. 2 He was an athlete here. 3 Q Uh-huh. Well, you mentioned that. 4 A He was a big supporter. 5 Q Does he give money? 6 A He and his wife endowed a scholarship many 7 years ago, they instituted that, and they take part in 8 ticket purchases, those types of things, yes. 9 Q When the football team beat Connecticut in 10 '07, did you go in the locker room and congratulate 11 the coach and the team? 12 A No. 13 Q Did you call the coach on his cell phone? 14 A I don't think so. 15 Q Did you congratulate any of the assistant 16 coaches? 17 A That particular day? 18 Q Yes. Or within a couple of days 19 thereafter? 20 A Oh, if -- afterwards, I may have, I may not 21 have. 22 Q You don't recall? 23 A I don't recall. 24 Q Did you send any e-mails, about 25 congratulations, either to Coach Rodriguez, or to 79 1 assistant coaches? 2 A No. 3 Q Did you send them a note in the mail? 4 A No. 5 Q Did you think that Rich was one of the top 6 coaches in the country at the time? 7 A Yes. 8 Q Do you agree with Senator Rockefeller's 9 comments, when he publicly stated that Coach Rodriguez 10 wasn't that good of a coach anyway, after he found out 11 he was leaving? 12 A I can't speak to Senator Rockefeller's 13 comments, or opinions. 14 Q Well, do you have that opinion, or you 15 don't have an opinion? 16 A With regards to -- 17 Q The coach's ability, after he left? 18 A When Rich was our coach, I felt he would be 19 a very good coach. 20 Q Tell me about the shredding incident. 21 Who leaked that to the West Virginia news 22 media? 23 MR. FLAHERTY: Object to the form. 24 A I don't know. 25 Q Did you investigate it, as head of the 80 1 athletic department? 2 A We asked the department of public safety to 3 look into that. 4 Q And, what was the result? 5 A We haven't gotten the results. 6 Q My goodness, it is three months, four 7 months later. 8 MR. WAKEFIELD: Is that a question? 9 MR. FLAHERTY: There is not a question 10 pending, you don't have to answer if there is not 11 a question pending. 12 MR. ROBON: I will rephrase the question. 13 BY MR. ROBON: 14 Q Have you talked to the head of the 15 department of public safety in the last three months, 16 about that shredding incident? 17 A No. 18 Q Did they interview you? 19 A No. 20 Q Did they interview any of your assistants, 21 or associate athletic directors? 22 A They spoke with members of our staff, 23 particularly those who work in the Puskar Center. 24 Q Did you believe that Rich Rodriguez 25 shredded important documents that belonged to the 81 1 university? 2 A I have no idea what was shredded. 3 Q Do you believe Rich Rodriguez shredded 4 documents that were important to the university? You 5 can answer that yes or No. 6 MR. FLAHERTY: He can answer it any way he 7 wants, and he just did. 8 A Yeah, I have no idea what was shredded. 9 Q My question is what you believe. 10 MR. FLAHERTY: Asked and answered. 11 A I don't have an opinion on that. 12 Q Okay. 13 So as far as you know, you don't know who 14 in the athletic department conjured up the shredding 15 incident? 16 MR. FLAHERTY: Object to the form. 17 A No. 18 Q Can you tell us why you didn't follow up 19 with the department of public safety about the 20 shredding incident, in the past three months? 21 A I didn't have any reason to. I didn't have 22 any reason to. 23 Q Who is Jimbo Fisher? 24 A Jimbo Fisher is the -- he is assistant 25 coach at Florida State, and -- 82 1 Q Did you speak with him? 2 MR. FLAHERTY: When? 3 BY MR. ROBON: 4 Q In the past several months? 5 A Yes. 6 Q Did you interview him for the replacement 7 of Mr. Rodriguez? 8 A Following Rich's official resignation, I 9 had telephone conversations with Jimbo Fisher, yes. 10 Q Did you tell Jimbo Fisher that you could 11 not increase the salary pool for the assistant 12 coaches, because it could hurt in the lawsuit 13 involving Rich? Or something very similar to that? 14 A I don't believe I said that. 15 Q What do you believe you said? 16 A I don't believe I said anything along those 17 lines. 18 Q You didn't talk about the salaries of 19 assistant coaches with Jimbo Fisher? Remember, you 20 are under oath. 21 MR. FLAHERTY: He is well aware of that. 22 A I don't recall having a discussion of 23 assistant coaches' salaries with Mr. Fisher. 24 Q But you don't deny it could have happened? 25 You just don't recall? 83 1 MR. FLAHERTY: Asked and answered. 2 A I don't recall. 3 Q Did you make a comment to Larry Aschebrook, 4 that you are not going to let President Garrison run 5 the athletic department? 6 A No. 7 Q Did you make that comment to anybody? 8 A No. 9 Q Never? 10 A Never. 11 Q Did you make the comment you are not going 12 to let President Garrison interfere in the running of 13 the athletic department? 14 A No. 15 Q Did you use similar words, but not 16 identically as I have used? 17 A No. 18 Q Do you think the possibility exists, that 19 President Garrison did promise Coach Rodriguez -- 20 MR. FLAHERTY: Object to the form of the 21 question, calls for speculation -- 22 Q -- several -- 23 MR. FLAHERTY: -- and it is completely 24 irrelevant. 25 A I can't speak for Mr. Garrison. 84 1 MR. ROBON: We need to change tapes. 2 MR. ROBON: Yes, go ahead. 3 MR. FLAHERTY: The time is 11:08 a.m., we 4 are going off the record, this concludes tape 2. 5 (Recess taken.) 6 THE VIDEOGRAPHER: The time is 11:17 a.m., 7 we are back on the record, this begins tape 3. 8 BY MR. ROBON: 9 Q Mr. Pastilong, can you tell this jury of 10 any particular document that you or anybody in the 11 athletic department, or anybody in the department of 12 public safety, thinks that Rich Rodriguez shredded? 13 A I would not have knowledge of that, because 14 I was not there. 15 Q Now, take a look at Rich's contract, 16 Exhibit B. And take a look at page 12. And you see 17 paragraph 11, where it talks about the Puskar, 18 P-u-s-k-a-r, Center renovations? 19 A Yes, sir. 20 Q Did you tell Rich that those were not going 21 to be made, sometime in the fall of 2007? 22 A No. 23 Q Did you tell him that they had been 24 delayed? 25 A No. 85 1 Q What did you tell him, regarding the 2 contributions, or the renovations? 3 A I asked Russ Sharp, again, my associate 4 athletic director for finance, to accompany me to 5 Rich's office, and -- and I mentioned to Rich that if 6 he could help us with regards to that particular 7 project, and that I was going to speak with our 8 Mountaineer Athletic Club personnel, and with the WVU 9 Foundation, and to members of the athletic department, 10 and myself, that I wanted to focus in on that 11 particular project. 12 That the sufficient amount of funds had not 13 been surfacing, and that as a team effort in the 14 department, if we could all refocus ourself on that. 15 Q So -- 16 A And we did, and we were successful. 17 Q And do you recall about the time you and 18 Mr. Sharp met with Rich Rodriguez about that matter, 19 as far as a date? 20 A It was in the fall, and I might add that 21 Rich was very receptive to that meeting, and it was -- 22 we left there with, "We are all going to roll our 23 sleeves up, and make sure we get this done." 24 Q But when that meeting occurred, 25 paragraph 11 had not been complied with; correct? 86 1 A That's incorrect. Paragraph 11, we were 2 still within the time frame of doing that. 3 Q But you told Rich you were having 4 difficulty? 5 A I was having concern, having difficulty, 6 and I wanted all of us to not lose focus on that 7 particular project. 8 He concurred, and again, we were 9 successful. 10 Q After the fact? 11 MR. FLAHERTY: After what fact? 12 MR. ROBON: After the meeting. 13 A Prior to the meeting, we had raised a 14 little bit of money, but it wasn't sufficient, it 15 wasn't enough. 16 Q Right. 17 A But after that meeting, yes. 18 Q Okay. 19 A He helped, I helped, MAC director helped, 20 everybody helped, and we completed that. It was a 21 good team effort. 22 Q Did you -- after that meeting, did you ever 23 tell Rich that you had raised enough money to complete 24 the Puskar Center renovations; and if you did, tell me 25 what date you did it. 87 1 A I can't recall that. I do know we 2 continued on with that project. 3 Q I understand. 4 But my question is: Did you communicate to 5 Rich, that you had actually raised the money to do it? 6 Yes or no. 7 MR. FLAHERTY: Answer any way -- 8 A I can't recall. 9 Q Can you tell the jury your understanding of 10 why Rich Rodriguez did not sign his contract between 11 December of '06 and, you know, before August 24th of 12 '07? 13 A I cannot. 14 Q What was your understanding of the reason? 15 Or what was communicated to you? 16 A That was discussions taking place with the 17 university's legal counsel, and his team of experts. 18 Q That's all you -- 19 A To work out the particulars. 20 Q That's all you knew? 21 A That's pretty much all I -- 22 Q Between December of '06 and August of '07, 23 what did you do as the athletic director, to help get 24 that contract signed, if anything? 25 A Again, those discussions between his team 88 1 of experts and our university's legal counsel, was 2 taking place. 3 My particular role in that, was not 4 required. 5 Q Would you say it's fair to tell the jury, 6 you had no role in getting that contract negotiated 7 and executed between December of '06 and August of 8 '07? 9 MR. FLAHERTY: Object to the form. 10 A Again, his team, our legal counsel, working 11 out the particulars, that was an area -- that was not 12 being handled by me. 13 Q Okay. 14 When did you first hear there was a 15 $4 million liquidated damages clause in the contract? 16 MR. FLAHERTY: Are you talking about the 17 second amendment? 18 MR. ROBON: Yes. 19 MR. FLAHERTY: Or the term sheet? 20 MR. ROBON: Either way. 21 A With regards to the second amendment -- 22 well, okay. The -- the preparation of the term sheet, 23 in discussions with Rich, his team of accountants, 24 attorneys, our departmental personnel, university's 25 legal counsel, and so on, that particular amount for 89 1 that particular time was what all parties felt was the 2 amount suitable for the liquidated damages at that 3 time. 4 And then that carried over into the second 5 amendment. 6 Q Was there -- was Rich told, to your 7 knowledge, that certain large donors insisted that 8 there be a $4 million liquidated damages provision, 9 since he had been approached by the University of 10 Alabama the year before? 11 A I had no knowledge of that, no. 12 Q Did any donor to the West Virginia 13 University Foundation, Inc., ever tell you that they 14 wanted a large dollar liquidated damages figure, to 15 keep Rodriguez? 16 A I don't recall a donor doing that. 17 Q Did you ever hear, by hearsay, of a donor 18 saying that? 19 A I don't recall that, no, sir. 20 Q Did you ever talk to Ken Kendrick about a 21 liquidated damages provision in Rich Rodriguez's 22 contract? 23 A Mr. Kendrick indicated his interest in Rich 24 remaining with us, and -- 25 Q In Rich remaining with you? 90 1 A Yeah. And had put together a significant 2 pledge, and he had discussions with Rich, and then our 3 Mountaineer athletic director, Whit Babcock, and as a 4 result that pledge was put together. 5 But, Mr. Kendrick, to my knowledge, did not 6 address liquidated damages to me. 7 Q Did he do it to Whit Babcock? 8 MR. FLAHERTY: If you know. 9 A He -- outside of the pledge, and 10 encouragement to keep Rich, I can't help you on that. 11 Q Can you explain to the jury what damages 12 the university could suffer by Rich Rodriguez leaving 13 the athletic -- damages of the athletic department, if 14 any? 15 MR. FLAHERTY: Object to the form of the 16 question. 17 Go ahead. 18 A Now, the -- at the time that we put the 19 various liquidated damages in the contract and 20 amendments, and with the discussion from his team of 21 experts, it was concluded that there could be damages 22 with regards to us terminating him for his personal 23 income, but there also could be liquidated damages to 24 us, in terms of recruiting, departure of players, 25 donors, ticket sales, image, and those damages could 91 1 be quite steep. 2 Q As far as you know -- it's now been just a 3 little bit more than four months, since he resigned; 4 correct? 5 A Yes. 6 Q Okay. 7 -- have any of those concerns come to pass, 8 where the university has suffered any financial 9 damage, that you can quantify? 10 A Yes. 11 Q And would you tell us what that is? 12 A Two large donors come to mind immediately, 13 with large pledges. The departure of two very good 14 football players, who had eligibility remaining with 15 us. 16 Q And which two are those? 17 A Darius Reynaud, Steve Slaton. 18 Q Did they tell you it was because Rodriguez 19 left? 20 A There was a statement via the media with 21 regard to Slaton, indicating that was his -- had Rich 22 been here, he would not have departed. 23 Q But you don't know that of your personal 24 knowledge? 25 A It was in the media. 92 1 No, he did not tell me that directly. 2 Q He didn't tell any of your assistants that, 3 either; did he? 4 A He stated, it was in the media, I don't 5 know how it got to the media. 6 Q Okay. 7 A I can't give you the details, the 8 particulars of that. 9 Q So we have two football players leaving. 10 What else occurred? 11 By the way, how many -- 12 A The donors. The donors, that was a 13 considerable amount of money. 14 Q Let me go back. 15 MR. FLAHERTY: Let him finish his answer, 16 please. 17 Q So we keep the jury, we don't want to keep 18 them in suspicion, how many football players are on 19 the team, so the jury gets an idea of what two means, 20 in the picture of things? 21 A Well, we have 125 players, 22 are first 22 team, 11 at a time, but I will say, Steve Slaton, two 23 years ago, was first team All American, and 24 Darius Raynaud was All Conference. 25 I mean, they are two pretty good football 93 1 players, very difficult to replace. 2 Q But they weren't this last year? 3 A They are pretty good. 4 Q But they didn't get All American? 5 A Darius Reynaud was All Big East, but Steve 6 Slaton did not make the first team All American, this 7 past year, that's correct. 8 Q So my question is: You lost two football 9 players. Now, are you talking about the contributions 10 from Don Reynolds and Ken Kendrick? 11 A That's correct. 12 Q Have contributions from other donors 13 increased, by millions of dollars? 14 A I don't believe so. 15 Q You don't believe so? 16 A By millions of dollars? 17 Q Yes. 18 A A individual person? 19 Q No, not an individual. I am talking about 20 a collective fund, donations? 21 A Well, we are still into our fundraising 22 right now. In fact, right now is a very active time 23 for us. 24 Q When is the fiscal year for the foundation? 25 A The foundation runs, I believe into the 94 1 January. I don't -- their fiscal year doesn't end on 2 June 30th. I believe. 3 Q Would you say that the funds compared to 4 last year, are up or down, as far as donations? 5 MR. FLAHERTY: Are you speaking of the 6 foundation, or are you speaking of -- 7 Q The foundation. 8 MR. FLAHERTY: If you know. 9 A It's too early to determine that right now. 10 I could not answer that. 11 Q Who runs the foundation? 12 A Well, the chief officer for that is 13 Mr. Wayne King. And then there is a board. 14 Q Okay. And does Mr. King work for the 15 university? 16 A He works for the foundation. 17 Q He doesn't work for the university? 18 A I do not believe so. 19 Q Is President Garrison involved in the 20 foundation? 21 A I don't know the particulars of his 22 association with the foundation, and just how he is 23 connected. 24 Q How many employees does the foundation 25 have, to your knowledge? 95 1 A I don't know that answer. 2 Q Who is your contact with the foundation? 3 A We have a unit within our department, it's 4 called Mountaineer Athletic Club. 5 We have an assistant athletic director, who 6 is the director of that particular unit. 7 Q And is that part of the foundation? 8 A That is part of the foundation, yes. We 9 supervise it, and it is co-existent with the athletic 10 department and the foundation. 11 MR. ROBON: Would you put a tab right 12 there, so I can find that easy. 13 All right. 14 Q So, how many people in this unit that are 15 paid by the university's athletic department, actually 16 work for the foundation, and the Mountaineer Club? 17 A Well, the director of that works for the 18 foundation, he is paid via the foundation, from our 19 particular Mountaineer Athletic Club account. 20 Q And how do you -- how do you break down the 21 Mountaineer account, from the foundation account? 22 A The foundation handles the private funds 23 for the university, whether it be the Medical Center, 24 or the various schools on campus, various colleges on 25 campus, and then they manage our moneys also. 96 1 We deposit our moneys there, they manage 2 them for us. 3 Q So if Mr. Kendrick donated a million 4 dollars to the Mountaineer Club, it would come to the 5 athletic department, but would be put into the 6 foundation's coffers? 7 A Yes, in our particular -- that's correct. 8 Q But you would have control over the use of 9 the money, the athletic department would? 10 A That's correct. 11 Q And how many people -- you didn't tell me 12 how many people, in a unit, in the athletic 13 department, work on the Mountaineer Club? 14 A Mountaineer Athletic Club? 15 Q Yes. 16 A There are about seven or eight people. 17 Q Full time? 18 A Yes. 19 Q So they are working for the athletic 20 department, soliciting funds for the foundation, 21 basically? 22 A Yes. 23 Q Going out, taking people to dinner, lunch, 24 asking for money? 25 A Yes. 97 1 Q And do you supervise that? 2 A Yes. 3 Q And is it fair to say that the only reason 4 the moneys go to the foundation, is so that they can 5 stay within the confines of the athletic department, 6 since if they went into the general funds of the 7 university, they could be spent for other purposes? 8 A You need to make that more clear for me. I 9 apologize. 10 Q I will rephrase the question. 11 If the foundation didn't exist, and the 12 athletic department solicited contributions, if those 13 moneys came in, they would go into the university's 14 general fund, and the athletic department would lose 15 control of those funds; correct? If the foundation -- 16 A If they went into the general university's 17 state fund, we would still manage those, under the 18 supervision of the university's state accounts. 19 Q Right. 20 A If they go over to the foundation, then we 21 still supervise these under the auspices of the 22 foundation, and under their supervision, guidelines. 23 Q But isn't it, in effect, that the athletic 24 department is more autonomous, and has more control 25 over the contributions, if they are in the foundation 98 1 coffers? 2 A Not necessarily. 3 As we make expenditures, we follow the 4 state policies, procedures, and then if we make 5 expenditures out of the foundation, we follow their 6 policies, their procedures. 7 Q Okay. 8 Who is Dusty Rutledge? 9 A Dusty is -- or was, our video coordinator 10 for football. 11 Q And, was he at President Garrison's house 12 when Rich Rodriguez was there, on the evening of 13 December 15th, the Saturday night, 2007? 14 MR. FLAHERTY: If you know. 15 A I -- I heard he was. I -- I did not see 16 him there, since I wasn't there, so I can't confirm 17 that. 18 Q Okay. 19 Is he employed by the athletic department? 20 A He was, yes. 21 Q Was he fired on the following Monday, after 22 he heard President Garrison indicate to 23 Coach Rodriguez that he would not fulfill the promises 24 that were made on August 24th of '07? 25 MR. FLAHERTY: Object to the form of the 99 1 question, and the assumptions contained in it. 2 A He was never fired. 3 Q He wasn't fired? 4 A No. 5 Q Was he removed from his office? 6 A He was removed from his office, and -- yes. 7 Q And was it that following Monday morning, 8 which would have been December 17th? 9 A If I miss it by a day, but I think it was 10 the 17th, that he was asked to relocate into the 11 coliseum. 12 Q And can you tell me why that occurred, and 13 who directed that that occur? 14 A It was felt that he would better serve the 15 department in a different capacity. 16 Q Who made that decision? 17 A Well, that was -- 18 Q Governor Manchin? 19 A No. 20 Q Or President Garrison? 21 MR. FLAHERTY: Or someone else. 22 Object to the form. 23 A Well, that was a discussion -- first of 24 all, Governor Manchin did not make that, and it was a 25 decision, after some discussion with our department, 100 1 and some other people within the university, just felt 2 it would be best for him, for everybody, if he was 3 relocated in the coliseum, worked into another 4 assignment, that type of thing. 5 Q When were those discussions held; on that 6 Monday, or prior thereto; the Monday the 17th, or the 7 16th -- I guess it would be the 16th. Yeah, it would 8 be -- no, the 17th. 9 A Sunday, Monday, in that area. 10 Q Okay. 11 So they weren't held a week before? 12 A No. 13 Q And, did President Garrison tell you to 14 implement those decisions? 15 A No. 16 Q Did Craig Walker tell you to implement 17 those decisions? 18 A He was part of that discussion. 19 Q He was a part. Okay. 20 And why would Craig Walker be involved in a 21 decision to remove somebody from an office in the 22 Puskar Stadium? 23 A There were -- he just was. 24 Q So he made that decision, not you? 25 A It was a consensus that it would be better 101 1 for Mr. Rutledge to relocate, not only for -- even for 2 Mr. Rutledge's concern, also. 3 Q Well, did -- who initiated that thought; 4 you, Craig Walker, or somebody else? 5 A I can't recall who initiated that. 6 Q You really didn't make the decision, then? 7 A That was a part of the discussion. 8 Q But you did not make the decision? 9 A Not 100 percent. 10 Q Well, not even 50 percent? 11 A I was a part of the discussion. 12 Q You were told what to do; right? 13 A Not necessarily. 14 I mean, it was a discussion. And it 15 resulted from that discussion. 16 Q Well, wasn't it fact that Craig Walker 17 said, "Fire his ass," or "Get his ass out of here," or 18 something of those kind of words? 19 A Not really. 20 Q Well, can you tell me what words he used? 21 A There were several people involved in that, 22 and I just -- 23 Q Tell me the words Craig Walker used. 24 A I don't recall. 25 Q Do you believe he was removed because he 102 1 was loyal to Coach Rodriguez? 2 A It was felt that it would -- again, to 3 repeat myself, it was felt it would be better if he 4 wasn't in that setting. And -- 5 Q Did you know that he overheard the 6 conversation between President Garrison and 7 Coach Rodriguez on September 15th, 2007? 8 MR. FLAHERTY: Object to the form of the 9 question. 10 A No. 11 Q A year ago, when Coach Rodriguez was 12 approached by the University of Alabama, did you make 13 any effort to keep him as the coach at West Virginia 14 University? 15 A Yes. 16 Q What did you do? 17 A The first person I talked to was Rich. And 18 I asked Rich, I said, "Rich, do you want to remain 19 here? And if so, I'm going to make every effort to 20 make it possible for you to remain here." 21 And I spent about five straight days with 22 him. One time I drove to Bridgeport, met him at the 23 airport. 24 But he said, that he replied "Yes," and I 25 made that effort to keep him. 103 1 Q Isn't it true -- 2 A And we were successful. 3 Q Isn't it true that Whit Babcock was more 4 actively involved in keeping Rich, than you were? 5 A That would be a matter of opinion. 6 Q Isn't it true, that when Mal, M-a-l, Moore, 7 M-o-o-r-e, called from Alabama, you thought it was a 8 prank call? 9 A No. 10 Q No. You didn't think it was real that he 11 was being courted by Alabama; did you? 12 A I thought he was being courted by Alabama. 13 Q Not in the beginning, though? 14 A I never -- I don't -- Mal Moore called me 15 from New York City, very late in this situation, and 16 left a phone message. 17 He did not talk to me directly. 18 I phoned his office and asked to speak to 19 him, but I never did receive a call back. 20 Q Did Rich Rodriguez ever get his web site? 21 A No. 22 Q Do you know if he was promised one? 23 A No. 24 Q Did he tell you he was promised one? 25 A No. 104 1 Q Did he ask you for one? 2 A Yes. 3 Q And what did you say? 4 A That I would look into it. 5 Q And can you tell the jury what you did, by 6 looking into it? 7 A I explored it, and I checked with another 8 university who had a similar web site, and found it to 9 be not conducive to the athletic department, and for 10 various reasons, and I wen