Urban Meyer, already a rich, rich man, is even richer today after signing a new deal worth $4 million a year through 2015, up from his previous salary of $3.25 million. The raise will allow him to finally construct the marble-lined chamber of his dreams adjacent the catacombs beneath his summer mansion, where he will preserve the disintegrating souls of his defeated opponents. 

It also makes him the highest-paid coach in the country at a public university, bumping him past Les Miles and Nick Saban and dangerously near private Notre Dame/USC territory. (We'll ignore for a moment that Bob Stoops' pay this year will be well over $6 million thanks to a "loyalty bonus" outside of his regular $3.8 million salary, and that Meyer's new deal obligates him to give $1 million back to a scholarship program he co-chairs at Florida. Bottom line: Urb's gettin' paid, son.) It's richly deserved for arguably the top coach in the country at the moment, and apparently a more emphatic rebuttal to the persistent Notre Dame rumors than Meyer's own words could ever be.

However, almost every story reporting Meyer's new deal today bothers to note a minor qualm with the title "highest paid coach in the SEC," helpfully summarized by College Football Talk:

... that positioning won't last for long as LSU's Les Miles reportedly has a stipulation in his contract that he must be the highest-paid coach in the SEC. According to the clause, Miles is contractually entitled to make $1,000 more than any other conference coach.

So, in essence, Miles himself just received a raise today as well, bumping his $3.75 million salary to 1K more than Meyer's whether it be this year or next.

Again, even if they don't assume a raise for Miles, pretty much everyone concedes this point in one way or another, including the Palm Beach Post, the Orlando Sentinel's Mike Bianchi and the New Orleans Times-Picayune when Miles signed the contract back in March 2008: "Miles will now receive, 'total annual compensation no less than the highest paid coach within the SEC, plus $1,000,' according to the memorandum." So: Meyer's boon means an automatic bump for The Hat, right?

Not so fast, says LSU sports information director Michael Bonnette, who I called up for the fine print: Miles will only get the $1,000 bump "if he wins the national championship this year," Bonnette said, which corresponds with the AP's widely disseminated accounts then and now. (Go AP.) This should have already been obvious, because Miles already made slightly less than Saban last year. Originally, Bonnette said, the clause would make Miles the highest paid coach in the country, but it was amended to avoid any ludicrous raises -- or expensive new hires -- at USC or Notre Dame that a public school couldn't justify.

Still, with Meyer's bump and Saban rumored to be negotiating for a new deal, the Tigers will have to dig deep for Les if they fulfill their darkhorse potential. But only then.