<p>After today, Charley is definitely gone. Fixing things is going to cost a lot of money. But as Forbes magazine says, the Irish have the richest college team in America.</p>
<p>How about ND finance the cost of the Weiss buyout and the new package for Saban, Stoops etc. with a fixed percentage of the NBC contract or earnings on a fixed group of endowment monies? This would minimize the cash outlay right now with the down economy.</p>
<p>Saban is not going to come to ND–Alabama fans will NOT let that happen. ND would have to come up with an exhorbitant amount of money and the Bama fans will sell their children to top any ND offer!</p>
<p>Mark Mays on ESPN thinks the cost is going to be $50 million.</p>
<p>???^^^Surely you must mean $15 million!</p>
<p>May’s numbers-He thinks $18m for Charley, $2m for Charley’s staff, Five year deal for the new guy will be $25 million, Five year deal for new guy’s staff will be $5 million. So $50 million all together.</p>
<p>The big mistake (besides the 10 year extension after the 2005 USC game) was not firing Chrley two years ago when we were close enough to having been to the BCS that a new guy could have been had for a two or three year deal and the NBC money would have been higher from having had better records the last two years. Now, you have a real crisis situation.</p>
<p>Not to mention the stock market problem–a lot of alumni/contributions have suffered because of the economy. It will be interesting to see just where the money will come from and how much–given the current state of the economy! This is indeed a real predicament…</p>
<p>Mark Mays numbers are double counting. You either keep Charlie and his staff and continue to pay them, or you buy out the rest of Charlie’s contract and begin paying a new coaching staff. It’s the incremental cost of fixing the problem, which some are suggesting is about $25-30M.</p>
<p>What most people are underestimating is just how much liquid funding Notre Dame has, and how much revenue they make every home game, regardless of the economy. The Bookstore alone averages $1 Million of profit every home game weekend. $50 Million may seem like an absurd number, but for a football program that is worth more than some professional franchises and is backed by one of the most financially sound organizations in the country, it’s not outlandish.</p>
<p>Seems a shame to spend the money this way–esp that MUCH money! Perhaps some who signed off on the contract extension should have personally guaranteed that money…</p>
<p>I can’t believe it. Swarbrick denies contacting anyone to Coach the Irish. The man who will have us playing Army and Western Michigan as we descend ever closer to oblivion hasn’t looked for a replacement. Can someone please explain to Swarbrick that he could at least take an ad out in the newspaper or go to Monster.com. You look at the way Floyd and Tate ran through and around the full step slower Stanford Defense and you have to say that the present state of affairs is a crime. Stanford should not be competitive against ND with the level of talent in South Bend.</p>
<p>Maybe things will be better in the Little Caesar’s bowl (the kind of game Jack Swarbrick loves to schedule).</p>