Former Oregon State defensive coordinator Keith Heyward is refuting claims made against him by his alma mater. He is countersuing the school for breach of contract and defamation, alleging athletic director Scott Barnes retaliated against him, and is seeking more than $2.4 million.
Now an assistant coach at Cal, Heyward acknowledges he has not repaid Oregon State his $50,000 buyout and $6,500 relocation allowance, according to court documents, which the school is seeking in a breach of contract lawsuit filed this spring. Heyward claims Barnes told him OSU would not enforce his buyout when he resigned in January 2025 following the death of his father and his mother’s hospitalization, but the school only threatened to do so after he was in the process of joining Cal’s staff.
“OSU’s enforcement was selective, retaliatory, and pretextual rather than routine,” Heyward’s attorney, Erick Haynie of Timberline Law Group, writes in a 38-page response and countersuit filed Tuesday night…