It’s of no stretch, no hyperbole-laden rant to unequivocally state this: Charlie Weis has sort of sucked at Notre Dame. Sure, he had his moment in the sun with all of Ty Willingham’s recruits, but now that they’re gone and he’s left with what he’s brought in, it’s been a pretty mediocre state of affairs. When the bar is set high at a program like ND, and you don’t reach that bar, it’s time to either produce or get the hell out.

Problem being, everyone’s thought Weis’ buyout was for some serious scrilla, to the point where it would really set the university, and the donors, and the alumni back. Well, if the anonymous Irish backers who decided to whine about Charlie Weis to the Trib’s Teddy Greenstein are to be believed, it might not actually be that much money at all — relatively speaking.

The common perception of Weis’ buyout is not accurate. Multiple sources have told the Tribune the buyout, far smaller than believed, will not affect whether Notre Dame decides to fire Weis after Saturday’s game at USC. One prominent alumnus called the amount “loose change.”

One source familiar with the contracts of Division I football coaches said the typical buyout would be Weis’ base salary times the number of years remaining on his deal.

Weis’ base salary from July 2006-June 2007 was $598,000, according to the Ft. Wayne (Ind.) Journal Gazette. The newspaper cited figures from Notre Dame’s federal 990 tax form, which requires the school to list its five highest-paid employees.

Weis’ contract likely calls for annual increases to his base salary. If that average rises to $650,000, the seven-year buyout would be about $4.5 million.

$4.5 million? Gee golly, Weis could buy a whole lot of polish for his Super Bowl rings with that.