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When Charlie Weis agreed to his contract extension, he said his decision to come to Notre Dame was never about money.
Weis may be making a lot as the Irish’s football coach, but the post-extension contract numbers that had been speculated to range from $21 million to $40 million might not be accurate.
The school paid Weis $598,000 in salary from July 1, 2006, to June 30, 2007, along with $51,628 in contributions to employee benefit plans and an expense account of $66,649.
The figures were obtained from the school’s federal Form 990 tax form. On the form, the Internal Revenue Service requires the school to list its five highest-paid employees.
“Money was never an issue,” Weis said when he received his extension in 2005. “You can always make more money in the NFL than you can in college. If you were going for money, the thing to do is to go to the NFL.
“In the last 24 hours, I’ve heard zillions of dollars of differences between the lowest end and the highest end, and it’s not very relevant because if I was making the decision based on money, I’d be coaching in the NFL.”
Weis declined to release the terms of his deal when it was signed in 2005; it runs until 2015. The report is the first official release of any of Weis’ salary post-contract extension.
The numbers are part of Weis’ complete salary package, which doesn’t have to be released to the public.
“We just simply have not given that to anybody,” Notre Dame senior associate athletic director for media relations John Heisler said.
Weis – and other coaches -- could receive more money from speaking appearances, apparel deals and radio shows, as examples, to reach a complete salary figure.
Weis, who will enter his fourth season at Notre Dame in 2008, did receive a bump from his salary reported by the school from July 1, 2005, to June 30, 2006. In that time frame, Weis made $565,566 in salary, $53,115 in deferred compensation and benefits and had an expense account of $55,100.
His compensation was behind former coach L. Tyrone Willingham then, and for the second straight year, Notre Dame paid Willingham more than its current coach.
The school paid Willingham $650,000 from July 1, 2006, to June 30, 2007, as part of its settlement with the current University of Washington coach after Notre Dame fired him on Nov. 30, 2004. The amount of money is the same the school paid to him in compensation as reported on the ’05-’06 tax form.
The only difference in Willingham’s pay between the two years is he did not receive $64 in other expenses on the latest report.
Weis is the third highest paid employee of Notre Dame, excluding officers, directors and trustees in ’06-‘07. Willingham is second.
First would be Michael D. Donovan, the managing director of private capital investments in the investment office. Donovan makes $693,708 in salary, has $195,091 given in employee benefits and an expense account of $87.
Including the officers, directors and trustees, Scott C. Malpass, the vice president and chief investment officer, tops everyone, as he is paid $1,242,998 in compensation, $364,147 in benefit plans and an expense account of $2,115.
Dennis Brown, the assistant vice president for news and information at Notre Dame, confirmed the accuracy of all salaries listed, but declined to comment “beyond what we filed.”
Notre Dame, a private institution, does not have to release contracts and information on employee payment other than what is required in the Form 990. Notre Dame football sports information director Brian Hardin did not immediately return a message. Weis is currently out of the country visiting troops in the Mideast.
Four coaches, including Willingham, are listed among the five highest paid employees excluding officers, directors and trustees on the latest tax form.
Behind Willingham and Weis is Notre Dame men’s basketball coach Mike Brey, who made $478,299 in compensation, $43,592 in employee benefits and had an expense account of $23,804. The number is down from the ’05-’06 tax form, when Brey earned $493,679 in salary, $50,329 in deferred compensation and employee benefits along with a $21,395 expense account.
Women’s basketball coach Muffet McGraw, who was not listed in the top five in ’05-’06, earned $468,781, along with $47,798 in employee benefits and $19,010 in an expense account.
mrothstein@jg.net
