LSU football coach Les Miles’ new salary remains undetermined, despite the expiration of a 60-day window to implement his pay raise. When Miles won the Bowl Championship Series National Championship on Jan. 7, a contractual clause guaranteed he would become one of the nation’s top-three paid coaches. The contract allotted a 60-day period for the raise to go into effect. LSU general counsel Ray Lamonica said problems with obtaining top-paid coaches’ contracts from private universities – specifically Notre Dame and USC – have caused delays. He said there will be “no problems” extending discussion beyond the allotted 60 days. Miles’ contract does not specify whether to consider private universities when analyzing the nation’s top-three paid coaches. “We’ve had difficulty getting specific information from Notre Dame and USC, and we’re trying to address that issue,” Lamonica said. LSU Athletic Director Skip Bertman did not return calls by press time, but he told The Daily Reveille in January that involved parties were analyzing contracts of Alabama’s Nick Saban, Oklahoma’s Bob Stoops and Florida’s Urban Meyer. Saban leads the group with a $4 million annual salary, while Stoops and Meyer both surpass the $3 million mark. The salaries of Notre Dame’s Charlie Weiss and USC’s Pete Carroll remain undisclosed, although both reportedly receive more than $3 million per year. Lamonica said all coaches’ salaries would be analyzed based on the yearly compensation they were guaranteed as of Jan. 7. Miles’ agent George Bass said discussions with the University have been amicable. “We’ve had a little bit of difficulty in getting some schools to release the [contract] numbers,” Bass said Monday. “We’re working on a resolution now. We’re diligently working together, and it’s a good situation.” Lamonica said he anticipates a resolution by the end of this week. He also said the broad clause should be more specific in future coaches’ contracts. “I think all contracts should be reviewed by the general counsel’s office,” Lamonica said. “These contracts in the past were mainly through the athletic department and the chancellor. We’re going to work on having more standardized agreements.”
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