ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – Aggie fans booed him and had some other choice words when the Lobos visited Friday night. Behind the scenes, New Mexico State University is still working to squeeze $500,000 out of Lobo Coach Paul Weir for bolting to the University of New Mexico.
NMSU fans yelled profanity at the man some Aggies call a traitor for leaving to coach their archrival.
Students held signs that read “Weir Not Welcome Here,” and “Weir Better Without.”
“I think this issue intensified the rivalry,” said Aggie fan Andy Sandoval.
Fans at the first NMSU, UNM rivalry game of the season also held signs of Weir’s buyout. With a play on words, those signs read “Weir is Our Money.”
The debate over the amount of money Paul Weir owes NMSU has been ongoing since he suddenly left in April after just one year on the job.
NMSU sent him a letter on April 12, saying he owed them $500,000, for voluntarily terminating his contract without permission.
Weir’s agent responded in an email to NMSU, saying he would owe at most $375,000, which equals $125,000 for each of the three remaining years of his contract.
“We can’t control it, we can just talk about it, but it’s all silly,” said Matthew Hanosh a UNM student.
While Lobo fans aren’t worked up over the money fight, Aggies think if a debt’s owed, it should be paid.
“It’s inevitable that there is some money due back to New Mexico State,” said Sandoval.
Weir’s three-year contract said it would extend to a fourth year if he took the team to the WAC Championship or NCAA Tournament, which he did.
That fourth year would add another $125,000 to his buyout, pushing it to $500,000.
Weir’s agent argues that clause wasn’t “memorialized in an amendment or confirmed before his resignation.”
In May Weir tried to settle, offering to pay a $250,000 buyout, half of what state says he owes.
KRQE News 13 reached out to Paul Weir’s legal staff. They said there is absolutely nothing they can say about the buyout.
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