By the time Charlie Weis’ five-year tenure at Notre Dame had come to a merciful end in November of 2009, it was readily apparent that the school -- and the fan base -- was ready to hit the reset button and rid themselves of the head coach.
Boy, were they ever ready to rid themselves of their head coach.
Federal tax documents obtained by the Chicago Tribune show that Notre Dame made a termination payment of $6,638,403 to Weis sometime after he and the school parted ways. And that was just an initial termination payment; the documents also reveal that Weis will receive “much smaller annual payments through December, 2015" as part of his severance package.
Weis, who spent a year with the Kansas City Chiefs after his Irish departure and is now the offensive coordinator at Florida, signed a 10-year contract extension in the middle of his first season with the Irish in 2005 that was slated to run through the 2015 season.
So, for posting a 35-27 mark as the Irish coach, including an abysmal 16-21 record his last three years in South Bend, Weis will receive in excess of $7 million above and beyond what he was paid in salary during those five years? And the school is also paying for a new head coach as well?
On top of that, Weis is also pulling in $765,000 in the first year of his new gig with the Gators, with contractually guaranteed raises of $100,000 in each of the next two seasons.
Yeah, based on this latest round of financial nonsense, I think this sudden push to “bridge the gap” when it comes to a player’s scholarship and the actual cost of living is making more and more sense with each passing minute.