Charlie Weis was highest-paid Notre Dame athletics employee in 2014
Notre Dame continues to pay Charlie Weis a hefty sum not to coach the Fighting Irish.
For a fourth straight year, an open records request from USA Today has revealed that Weis, who was fired by Notre Dame in November 2009, was paid more than any other employee of Notre Dame athletics, including current head coach Brian Kelly. In fact, there were only two university employees that earned more than Weis in the 2014 calendar year.
Weis — who was fired by Notre Dame in November 2009 — received what has become his customary $2,054,744 during the 2014 calendar year, according to the university’s new federal tax return.
That means Weis received more from Notre Dame in 2014 than all but two other university employees listed on the return, which the school provided Monday in response to a request from USA TODAY Sports.
Vice President and chief investment officer Scott Malpass was credited with nearly $5.4 million in total compensation in 2014, including just over $1 million that had been reported as deferred compensation in prior years; Malpass’ total also included nearly $2.9 million in bonus pay. Michaell Donovan, the school’s managing director for private capital investments, was credited with more than $2.3 million, including just under $400,000 that had been reported as deferred pay in prior years and more than $1.1 million in bonus compensation.
This is nothing new for Notre Dame. Weis collected also more than Kelly in 2011, 2012 and 2013. The school’s tax returns indicated Kelly’s pay to be $1.62 million – a $995,000 base salary and close to $451,000 in bonuses. Weis’ pay also surpassed athletic director Jack Swarbrick, who made $1.61 million, records show.
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Weis served as offensive coordinator of the Kansas City Chiefs for one season after his firing before returning to the college ranks. First, he was the offensive coordinator at Florida in 2011 before landing the head-coaching gig at the University of Kansas in 2012. In parts of three seasons with the Jayhawks, Weis’ record was a putrid 6-22. He was fired during the 2014 season and hasn’t coached since.
All the while, Weis collected severance pay from Notre Dame. According to USA Today, Weis “received more than $6.6 million pay and severance in 2009” and subsequently “has been paid nearly $10.5 million by Notre Dame from 2010 through 2014.”
Notre Dame’s payments to Weis continued through December 2015.
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Sam Cooper is a contributor for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!
