Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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Upon Further Review todd D. burlage full seasons after he signed the 10-year extension. According to a recent financial review by the Chicago Tribune, Weis will continue to receive annual payments through December 2015 — six full years after he coached his final game at Notre Dame — and his buyout total will approach $19 million once his payroll anchor is off the books. In fact, the buyout structure meant Weis was making more money than Kelly each of the last three years. "Money was never an issue," Weis said upon signing the infamous contract extension that will throw another $6 million or so his way over the next three years. When you look at the last two Notre Dame head coaches before Kelly, maybe getting fired isn't so bad after all. Tyrone Willingham remained on payroll at both Notre Dame and Washington in 2009, and he had already been fired by both schools and was retired from coaching. Fortunately, Swarbrick is too shrewd of a businessman to hand over the keys to the kingdom as freely as White. In fact, Swarbrick never flinched when Kelly headed almost directly from Miami to Philadelphia after the national championship game to discuss becoming the head coach of the NFL's Eagles. Weis got his 10-year deal without even interviewing with the Giants. His extension sprouted from nothing more than rumors of mutual interest. Swarbrick found and secured the right man for the job, and he gave Kelly just enough time on this new contract to show prospective recruits he will be at Notre Dame for their entire career, while also protecting the university from financial failure in the unlikely event Kelly's growing success is smoke and mirrors. Kelly and Swarbrick also built this new contract more around a long-term direction for the program than salary, which was also refreshing. "We spent very little time on details that you find in a contract," Swarbrick said. "We spent a lot of time talking about the vision for the program; how we can make sure we're building the program we all want." Kelly has a wish list to reach those mutual goals for the program, and the university is listening better than it ever has — paying the Irish assistants enough to limit coaching turnover, moving the pregame mass to Friday instead of just a couple hours before kickoff on Saturday, providing more uniform class schedules for the student-athletes when possible, and conducting ongoing facility evaluations, just to name a few. Leave it to Jack Swarbrick to hit another grand slam by doing everything in his power to keep Brian Kelly happy and wanting to stay where he is. "This was more for the long term," Swarbrick said of the Kelly contract. "What we see the program like in three, four, five, six years." Another masterful move by the best AD in the business. ✦ Todd D. Burlage has been a writer for Blue & Gold Illustrated since July 2005. He can be reached at tburlage@blueandgold.com