Notre Dame paid Willingham more than Weis?

Thanks to money garnered from apparel deals or media appearances or camps, Charlie Weis ultimately has been paid much more to coach Notre Dame than Tyrone Willingham is getting paid not to coach Notre Dame. But in terms of base compensation alone, the former Irish coach still outpaced the current Irish coach in 2007-08, according to the latest tax documents provided by the school. According to Notre Dame’s Form 990 tax report from ‘07-’08, Willingham earned $650,000 in base compensation as part of his settlement agreement upon his 2004 firing — more than the $521,750 paid to Weis in the same year. – Chicago Tribune

Steve Spurrier confronts Lane Kiffin

Lane Kiffin may be the new mouth of the SEC. But Steve Spurrier isn’t going down without a fight. Earlier Tuesday in Destin, Fla., Kiffin was asked if he would apologize again to Florida coach Urban Meyer for accusing him of cheating. Kiffin responded that he had never received an apology from Spurrier after Spurrier questioned whether he had passed the NCAA compliance test before he began calling prospects. Told of Kiffin’s comment late Tuesday, Spurrier shook his head and faced Kiffin, who was waiting for an elevator with a couple other coaches. “I didn’t accuse you of cheating,” Spurrier told Kiffin. “I said, ‘Is it permissible to call recruits before he’s announced as head coach, before you take the test?” Spurrier then turned back toward reporters and told them Kiffin took the test online and was unaware that was allowed. Kiffin’s face turned red during the 40-second exchange and said something that was inaudible. – Birmingham News

Kiffin won’t apologize to SEC coaches

Lane Kiffin didn’t back down or hand out apologies Tuesday before he met his fellow Southeastern Conference football coaches — many of whom he has called out and insulted. The new Tennessee coach and his SEC colleagues gathered in Destin for face-to-face meetings at the annual spring conference. All the coaches individually addressed the media before the sessions began. Meyer said before meeting Kiffin on Tuesday that he expected their first contact to be “professional.” “That’s the way we’re supposed to act in this league,” Meyer added. If Meyer was looking for an apology from Kiffin on Tuesday, there was none forthcoming. Kiffin, who issued a public apology to Meyer and the SEC almost immediately on signing day, said Tuesday that was it. – Atlanta Journal Constitution

Spurrier: I haven’t won enough to talk trash

It isn’t very often that University of South Carolina head football coach Steve Spurrier gets put in his place. But that’s exactly what happened Wednesday. And it came from none other than himself. While hitting the golf links for an afternoon round at The Dunes Golf and Beach Club in Myrtle Beach, Spurrier passed on the opportunity to talk smack against fellow Southeastern Conference rivals. When asked why he wouldn’t address the back-and-forth that has taken place for years between SEC coaches, Spurrier bluntly said, “I haven’t won enough games to banter with anybody right now. So when you’re 7-5 and 7-6, which is about what we’ve averaged, you just try to worry about your team.” – The State

Rutgers, UCLA Discuss Series

Those are essentially the reasons Rutgers is in negotiations with UCLA for a home and home series, having exchanged possible dates with the Pac-10 school. It all happened when Pernetti was at the Fiesta Bowl’s annual Spring Football Seminar two weeks ago — an event that draws most of the nation’s major college football coaches and athletic directors. Pernetti was returning from a morning workout, accompanied by his wife, when he saw UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel having breakfast with his wife. Pernetti, while an executive at CBS College Sports, hired Neuheisel to do announcing when he was between jobs. “I explained our scheduling situation this year to Rick and how we had to play two 1-AAs and he said, ‘Hey, we ought to be talking about playing a game,’” said Pernetti. “I said, ‘You’re right. We should be.’ So I talked to Greg Schiano about it and he was all for it. “Since then we’ve exchanged information and we’re trying to see if we can work something out.” – Newark Star-Ledger

Les Miles: LSU can make a run at SEC title

Remaining is a young team that LSU Tigers head coach Les Miles thinks can step up and get the job done. “I like the position we’re in,” Miles said. “Certainly there’s work to do over the summer, but it appears to me that we’ve got a quarterback in place. We think we’re in a good position to make a run at it.” Jordan Jefferson stepped up big in LSU’s Capital One Bowl win against Georgia Tech to cap an up-and-down rookie season. Now the sophomore quarterback has been tabbed the Tigers’ starter for 2009, and Miles is pleased with what he has seen. “I’m happy to a point,” Miles said. “He’s a sophomore. He started two games, played in three, and it appears to me that when he’s prepared as the starter he’s pretty talented.” – Pensacola News-Journal

Army AD upset with Notre Dame?

Army athletic director Kevin Anderson said he hasn’t spoken with Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick on the possibility of playing at the new Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. “He hasn’t talked to me about it,” Anderson said. “I guess he’s negotiating in the newspaper.” Anderson said that for a game to be played at Yankee Stadium, he would need to negotiate with Army’s opponents to move some games. “It’s concerning that Notre Dame’s athletic director would put something like that out without talking to me first to see what’s on my schedule,” Anderson said. Anderson added, “It’s shocking for anybody to be talking about us playing in Yankee Stadium. The other thing is that it’s alarming to learn about this from anybody but the Yankees. If there was going to be a football game and Army was playing in it, wouldn’t a release be going out by the Yankees?” Swarbrick could not be reached for comment. – Times Herald Record

Secret Prince deal stuns K-State

During the past six months, Kansas State University fans have come to accept $1.2 million as the cost of ridding their valued football program of former coach Ron Prince and his mediocre success in three seasons. Turns out it’s worse than they thought. The new price tag is $4.4 million. Prince, now an assistant coach at the University of Virginia, is scheduled to receive $3.2 million more in payments from 2015 to 2020 — in addition to the buyout amount from his August 2008 contract extension. It’s all because of what K-State officials say is a “secret agreement” signed last August by Prince and Bob Krause, K-State’s former athletic director. “Secret,” as in hiding the agreement from anyone at the university, including president Jon Wefald. In a suit filed Wednesday in Riley County District Court, the university and its athletic corporation seek to invalidate the pact because it alleges that Prince’s agent/lawyer negotiated directly with Krause and not through the university’s lawyers. – Kansas City Star

Kiffin forced to self-report violation

Lane Kiffin, Twitter outlaw, is at it again. And isn’t it great? Kiffin, that rolling ball of controversies,has been forced to self-report another violation. This time, it came after he mentioned a recruit by name on his Twitter page. – St. Petersburg Times

Notre Dame football at Yankee Stadium?

The tradition of college football at Yankee Stadium could be in the embryonic stages of being revived at the new Yankee Stadium. Jack Swarbrick, Notre Dame’s athletic director, said the Yankees were open to having college football at the new Stadium, and he would like the Fighting Irish to be the first team to play there. Swarbrick stressed that no dates had been discussed. “We’ve been in contact with Yankee Stadium and asked and inquired,” Swarbrick said. “We will be discussing games with them, but we haven’t entered into any substantive discussions.” – New York Times

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