Jim Tomsula is credited as being a defensive wizard in NFL circles. The defensive line coach for the Washington Redskins was integral in turning around the club’s defense in 2017. Prior to that, he served in a variety of positions, including as head coach of the San Francisco 49ers from 2015-16.
It was a short stint for Tomsula with the 49ers, but as is the case for all coaches, he was bound by a contract with the team. And the team was bound to perform according to the contract.
In January 2017, Tomsula was referred to Heitner Legal to assist the coach with getting all the money due to him from the 49ers. The 49ers owed Tomsula severance compensation to be set-off by his new deal with the Redskins. In a letter, we noted that 49ers CEO/owner Jed York further recognized the compensation due in a statement wherein he said, “I would say this; we’ve got several years of Jimmy T’s salary left and we’re going to eat it. Whether he’s coaching somewhere else or not, we owe him that. That’s not a concern.”
After a bit of negotiation, we were able to resolve the matter with the 49ers, without litigation, and allow Tomsula to move on to only thinking about how he could improve the Redskins’ defense.