Notre Dame still paying dearly for Charlie Weis

Notre Dame paid more money to former coach Charlie Weis in 2012 than it did to Brian Kelly, who led the Irish that year to a 12-0 regular season and a trip to the national title game.

Weis went 1-11 that year while coaching at Kansas.

Notre Dame paid Kelly $1.5 million in 2012 while Weis earned $2.1 million from the Irish (and $2.1 more million from Kansas!).

Ah, the contract termination gift that keeps on giving. Thank you USA Today for getting ahold of Notre Dame’s 2012 tax returns.

The sweetheart deal Notre Dame bestowed on Weis in 2005 remains the most outrageous contract extension ever tendered in the emotional aftermath of a loss.

Remember?

On Oct. 15, in South Bend, top-ranked USC defeated Notre Dame, 34-31, on the infamous “Bush Push” touchdown in the closing seconds.

The game became an instant classic as Weis, in his first year, played football chess against USC Coach Pete Carroll.

Notre Dame fell to 5-2 that day but Notre Dame Nation was so frenzied over a possible revival of its fallen pigskin empire that it immediately started negotiating a long-term extension with its coach.

Weis, who graduated from Notre Dame and reportedly got a perfect score on his SAT, was cagey enough to possibly intimate the NFL might come along and steal him away.

Notre Dame followed the USC loss with a win over Brigham Young. The next week, during a football bye, the school put the finishing touches on a 10-year extension through 2015 that was worth an estimated $40 million.

Imagine what Weis would have received had Notre Dame defeated USC?

“We’re confident that we’ve got the best coach in America ensconced at his alma mater for the remainder of his career,” then-Notre Dame athletic director Kevin White said at the time.

Notre Dame fired Weis in 2009, with six years left on his contract, after a three-season stretch of 16-21. He finished 35-27 overall in South Bend and is 4-20 since taking over at Kansas.

Weis never paid off for Notre Dame, but Notre Dame keeps paying off for Weis.