Report: Petke was given chance to resign before being fired

Just when things start to normalize, the universe is there to throw chaos back into the mix.

This time, it’s a report from The Athletic’s Sam Stejskal that former RSL coach Mike Petke was given an opportunity to resign his post at Real Salt Lake before he was fired.

That opportunity included a payout, which Stejskal cites as “low six-figures.” Petke was even expected to take the offer, but on Sunday night, he declined it. The press release announcing his firing must have come not long after that.

As expected, Stejskal also reports the contract had a “morals clause,” which is certainly common in contracts for public figures. One would imagine the Tigres incident could easily be interpreted to fit into that, though it’s difficult without knowing the actual terms of the contract.

So it’s particularly interesting, given all this, that Petke has decided to pursue some sort of recourse against the club, with his aim being to “fight for the salary remaining on his contract” — again, from Stejskal’s report.

There’s no easy way of knowing if Petke stands a chance. It’s easy to presume that any legal entanglement between Petke and Real Salt Lake would stand a strong chance of reaching a settlement before anyone stepped foot in a courtroom. If it did, it would almost certainly play out in a messy, public way.

And that’s a bit weird. We’ll keep our ears to the ground. Hopefully it doesn’t prove too much of a distraction, because if you haven’t noticed, we’re just two points out of second place in the West. It’s going to be a crazy run under now-RSL coach Freddy Juarez.

READ MORE

• Why Real Salt Lake fired Mike Petke, and what comes next
• Real Salt Lake head coach Mike Petke fired