The clock is ticking on the 60-day period to determine LSU head football coach Les Miles’ new salary. 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 – or until March 7 – for the raise to go into effect. It is a simple clause in wording, but LSU general counsel Ray Lamonica said analyzing the top-paid coaches’ contracts has proved to be tedious. Lamonica, LSU Athletic Director Skip Bertman and LSU Board of Supervisors member Charlie Weems are working with Miles’ agent George Bass to agree on a number. Lamonica said he could not speculate what would happen if the March 7 deadline passes without determining Miles’ pay. “We first of all have to reach an agreement,” Lamonica said. “I’m not going to comment on where we are in the negotiations, but we are waiting on a response from the agent.” Weems said both parties “are working in good faith” to figure out the “nuances” of the contract. “I don’t think there’s any disagreement over what the contract says,” Weems said. “But anytime you have a provision that talks about other people’s contracts, it’s hard to translate because it’s a little ambiguous. Football contracts have lots of different features that make up total compensation package.” Bertman did not return calls by press time, but he told The Daily Reveille in January that Miles’ pay would increase from $1.8 million to more than $3 million. At the time, Bertman said the athletic department was actively analyzing the contracts of the nation’s apparent top-paid trio: Alabama’s Nick Saban, Oklahoma’s Bob Stoops and Florida’s Urban Meyer. Notre Dame’s Charlie Weiss may be one of the nation’s top-paid coaches, but LSU cannot obtain his contract since Notre Dame is a private institution. Lamonica said involved parties have analyzed contracts based on the coaches’ total yearly compensation guaranteed as of Jan. 7, 2008. “It does not include figures they are entitled to in the future,” he said. Weems said the Board of Supervisors may consider amending Miles’ contract to prevent future confusion about the clause. “If we have this type of provision in the contract, it would be nice if we clarified it,” he said. Weems said he doubted any contractual revision would be proposed before the Board’s March 6 meeting.
—-Contact Amy Brittain at [email protected]