updated 1:41 p.m. ET July 23, 2008

Rutgers University made a secret deal with coach Greg Schiano, allowing him to break his 10-year contract without penalty if the school didn't complete a stadium expansion and renovation project by 2009, The Star Ledger of Newark reports.

Sciano's contract, which runs through 2016, requires him to pay $500,000 if he leaves early. However, the secret addendum releases Schiano from the damages if construction is delayed, the newspaper reports.

The stadium clause was just one of several sweeteners the university gave Schiano secretly to retain the coach. On Tuesday, The Star-Ledger reported that Rutgers gave Schiano $250,000 in compensation in 2007 on top of the $2 million agreed to in the contract he signed in February 2007. The money was funneled through a school vendor and never appeared on the university's payroll, according to the newspaper.

New Jersey Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D-Bergen) asked the state inspector general and state comptroller to open investigations into the coach's contract negotiations, the newspaper reports.

"The taxpayers deserve to know the total price tag that comes with the hiring of a prominent and sought-after football coach," Weinberg told The Star-Ledger.

Schiano's base salary is $1.6 million. The newspaper reports Schiano also receives incentives and bonuses that reached $205,000 last year, not including the $250,000 in payments made through the vendor, Nelligan Sports Marketing. The university also gave Schiano an $800,000 interest-free loan to buy a home, and that loan is being forgiven at a rate of $100,000 a year.
University president Richard L. McCormick told The Star-Ledger, "We wanted to maintain the momentum of the program. We wanted to keep Greg Schiano as our coach."

McCormick expressed regrets about not making public all the terms of the agreement with Schiano. As The Star-Ledger points out, criticism of Rutgers regarding the coach's contract do not involve what it took to keep Schiano, but that the terms of the contract were kept secret.

The $102 million stadium renovation, which includes adding 14,000 seats, is over budget, the newspaper reports.

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