Report: Texas to settle Joe Wickline lawsuit

According to a report from Scout.com, the Texas Longhorns are expected to settle the ongoing lawsuit with the Oklahoma State Cowboys over offensive line coach Joe Wickline's buyout.

Interim athletic director Mike Perrin called the lawsuit a "distraction" over the weekend, so the Texas vice president for legal affairs, Patti Ohlendorf has been in contact with attorneys representing Oklahoma State in order to reach an agreement on the nearly $600,000 buyout the school believes Wickline owes because the job he took at with the Longhorns did not involve play-calling duties.

Sources say that the settlement amount will be for around $300,000.

Scheduled to go to trail in March, the suit has been an ongoing source of embarassment for Texas, as former athletic director Steve Patterson refused to involve himself in the matter, leading to depositions of the coaching staff that produced a number of gaffes from head coach Charlie Strong and revealed a play-calling process the coaches themselves struggled to accurately and consistently describe.

Oklahoma State recently requested more depositions from Texas, including interviews with Strong, former play caller Watson, Wickline, new play caller Jay Norvell, and former athletic director Steve Patterson. Perhaps even associate athletic director Arthur Johnson and junior quarterback Tyrone Swoopes, who was the starter from the second game of the 2014 season until he lost his job to redshirt freshman Jerrod Heard against Rice.

Though Strong probably knows his zip code now and could most likely recall his former starting quarterback's first name given another opportunity, it would probably be just as well if the Horns could avoid the distraction that another round of depositions could cause.

And the school probably owes it to Wickline to make this go away and avoid the possibility that he has to pay his former employer a significant portion of the money he'll earn over the course of his two-year contract.