A Division I head coaching offer at a top-half program, the coach's spouse working in that same athletic department in a compliance-adjacent role, a spouse-employment policy that had never been tested at the head-coach level, and a search committee ready to move. We built the framework the athletic department could live with.
The department's spousal-employment policy addressed staff-to-staff and student-to-staff relationships, but had never been applied to a head coach whose spouse worked in a compliance-adjacent role at the same institution. The search committee wanted the coach. The compliance office wanted a clean framework.
The candidate did not want to force his spouse out of a job she had built.
We read the institution's own policy, the conference's compliance framework, and comparable arrangements at peer programs, then drafted a written spousal-employment memorandum that documented the reporting-line separation, the recusal protocol on any matter touching the coach's team, the written conflict-of-interest disclosure schedule, and the annual review procedure. The framework kept the spouse's role intact while creating a defensible perimeter.
We negotiated the head coach's employment agreement in parallel, then routed the memorandum through the compliance office, the athletic director's office, and the general counsel's office for written sign-off before the coach signed.
The signing happened cleanly. The spouse kept her role. The compliance office had paper it could point at.
"They had never solved this before. Brandon wrote the paper both sides could live with."
— Head Coach, Division I
Wanting to hire a candidate does not resolve a genuine conflict-of-interest question, and a policy written for staff-to-staff relationships does not automatically extend cleanly to a head coach whose spouse works in a compliance-adjacent role. Someone has to write the specific framework that applies the institution's principles to a fact pattern the policy never anticipated.
The alternative, forcing a spouse out of a career she built, is not a solution most candidates will accept, and it should not be the only path available. A written memorandum with reporting-line separation and a recusal protocol lets both careers continue on a defensible footing.
We build spousal-employment and conflict-of-interest frameworks for coaching searches, and we route them for institutional sign-off before the signing happens, not after.
Most engagements are flat fee, quoted before the work begins — and most matters resolve without litigation. Start with a free consultation.