Notre Dame firing of coach Charlie Weis in 2009 may cost them nearly $19 million in the end, the Chicago Tribune reports. The Fighting Irish are spending more on a fired coach than on the actual coach leading the team.
Weis received an initial $6,638,403 after Notre Dame fired him. Two more annual payments of $2,054,744 put his earnings to around $10.7 million. Weis is slated for "additional annual payments" through Dec. 2015, which would push his buyout total to $18,966,867 when all is said and done.
Current Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly, by contrast, earned $1,088,179 from the school between July 2011 and June 2012. Kelly's sum is roughly a third of what Notre Dame spent on its coaches for the 2011 football season.
The Tribune report delved further into Kelly's financials and reported that the current coach has a base salary of $672,608 with "bonus and incentive compensation" worth $289,471. Other benefits raised Kelly's total to more than $1 million.
Notre Dame paid men's basketball coach Mike Brey a total of $1,407,509, women's basketball coach Muffett McGraw earned a total of $1,145,441 and athletic director Jack Swarbrick earned $1,085,260 for the year.
Weis' annual payments make him the highest-paid coach on Notre Dame's payroll — and he doesn't even work there.
Weis joined the Fighting Irish in 2005 after winning three Super Bowls with the New England Patriots as their offensive coordinator. Notre Dame fired him in 2009 after a 6-6 season. In his four years at Notre Dame, Weis is 35-27.
He is currently the head coach for the University of Kansas.
