Charlie Weis finally off Notre Dame’s books after six years

Charlie Weis, as of January 1st, will finally be off the Notre Dame Fighting Irish’s payroll.

ESPN’s Darren Rovell brings to light that on January 1st, 2016, former Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Charlie Weis will finally be off the university’s payroll after being fired over six years ago by the athletic department.

Weis, who coached the Irish from 2005-09, still received money from his 2009 buyout that Rovell values at around $19 million. Weis went 35-27 in his five seasons in South Bend, only coaching in three bowl games. He then spent 2010 in with the Kansas City Chiefs as their offensive coordinator and then 2011 as the offensive coordinator with the Florida Gators before spending three years coaching the Kansas Jayhawks in the Big 12. Weis went 6-22 (1-18) in his two plus years in Lawrence.

Still, he was on the Notre Dame payroll all the while at his next three places of employment. For years, this buyout was the NCAA’s version of the Bobby Bonilla annuity with the New York Mets. Not as lengthy, but still a massive financial burden that Notre Dame was on the hook for.

It’s now hard to rationalize, but Weis was at his peak as a coach over a decade ago after serving as the offensive coordinator for Bill Belichick on the New England Patriots from 2000 to 2004. He and Belichick stem from the Bill Parcells coaching tree and worked together with the New York Giants in the 1990s.

As the calendar turns to 2016, Notre Dame is finally rid of the Weis buyout. The athletic department no longer has to pay a coach that they fired in the first year of the Barack Obama administration.