Miles could get $3.75 million

• By JORDAN BLUM
• Advocate Capitol News Bureau
• Published: Mar 15, 2008 - Page: 1A - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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LSU football coach Les Miles will make more than $3.75 million — guaranteed — this coming season, giving him $1,000 more than Alabama coach Nick Saban.

The higher-than-expected salary for Miles was agreed to Wednesday and finalized Friday after behind-the-scenes negotiations between LSU officials and Miles’ agent, George Bass of Dallas.

Changes were needed because of confusion surrounding the salaries of the three-highest-paid coaches, which LSU was contractually bound to match for Miles. LSU had to factor in the pay packages of private school coaches, who don’t have to disclose their salaries, such as Notre Dame’s Charlie Weiss and Southern California’s Pete Carroll, said Ray Lamonica, LSU System general counsel.

Because the contracts of Weiss and Carroll are believed to be the highest-paying in the country, LSU officials and Miles agreed to revamp his contract that runs through 2012.

Miles will be the highest-paid football coach of a public university for at least one year, Lamonica said, not counting postseason bonuses.

Rather than be paid among the three best-paid college football coaches nationally for winning the national championship in January, Miles will now be paid equal to the top Southeastern Conference salary, plus $1,000.

Saban, who was the SEC’s highest-paid coach, is guaranteed $3.75 million this coming season, so Miles is guaranteed $3.751 million, not counting postseason and academic standards bonus money.

Saban’s contract jumps to $4 million in 2009. Miles’ salary is not guaranteed to increase because he has no automatic salary escalator in his contract.

Miles would have to win the BCS national championship again to stay ahead of Saban.

Miles received just more than $1.8 million last year, not counting bonuses.

After reaching a new deal with LSU in December, Miles was expected to be paid about $3.4 million next season. But the new modifications upped the ante even more.

LSU Board of Supervisors Chairman-elect Jim Roy of Lafayette said the changes were necessary because of “verifiability” flaws in the existing contract concerning the values of the private school coaches.

“It is what it is,” Roy said. “It’s a performance-based contract. The man won a national championship.”