Notre Dame fired Charlie Weis on Nov. 1, 2009. And on Jan 1., 2016, the Irish will finally get the former head football coach off their payroll.
When Weis was dismissed more than six years ago, he received one of the most infamous buyout packages in sports history. ESPN’s Darren Rovell reports that the total amount Notre Dame will have paid Weis after Thursday is roughly $49.5 million. He spent less than five seasons in South Bend and won 35 games.
Weis, who also coached at Kansas from 2012-2014, earned about $25 million from Notre Dame and Kansas while not coaching either program. According to a breakdown from Matt Fortuna of ESPN.com, Weis received an initial payment of $6,638,403 immediately upon being terminated by Notre Dame. He has also received payments of roughly $2 million each year since his firing, which brings the total bill around $18 million after he was let go.
Not bad for a guy who won one bowl game during his five seasons at Notre Dame, huh? Oh, and that bowl victory was in the Hawaii Bowl. It capped off a 7-6 season in 2008.
Now do you get why Weis said what he did about coaching earlier this year? I’d feel the same way if I was paid $25 million over a six-year span to not work.
