Kansas City, Mo. ? Kansas State University filed a lawsuit Wednesday challenging a secret deal between former athletic director Bob Krause and ex-football coach Ron Prince that would pay Prince $3.2 million in deferred compensation between 2015 and 2020.

Prince’s agent responded that the lawsuit is without merit and that the deal between his client and the university is legally binding.

Kansas State President Jon Wefald said he found out about the agreement on May 11 after it was discovered by university staff while searching for documents regarding an unrelated matter.

“I was shocked and saddened to find out about this agreement,” Wefald said in a statement. “No one in central administration or athletics knew about this agreement.”

Prince, who was hired as head football coach in February 2006 to replace Bill Snyder, was fired in November, three months after signing a five-year contact with a guaranteed compensation package of $1.1 million a year.

Under that contract, Prince was to be paid $1.2 million, plus a roughly $150,000 prorated longevity bonus, if he were fired without cause.

The lawsuit claims that Prince formed a limited liability company he called In Pursuit of Perfection LLC, or IPP, and that Krause signed the deal with that entity on Aug. 7, the same day that Prince’s new five-year contract with the school was signed.

According to the deal between Krause, representing Intercollegiate Athletic Council of Kansas State University Inc., and IPP, the university would be obligated to pay IPP $800,000 in December 2015, $800,000 in December 2016 and $1.6 million in December 2020 if Prince were fired without cause before the contract was up.

Krause, who resigned as athletic director in March, quit his job as economic development director for the school’s Olathe Innovation Campus on Wednesday upon Wefald’s request.

“I appointed Bob Krause to be athletic director,” Wefald said. “He has been a longtime friend. I regret deeply and apologize that this happened while I was president. But we do regard this secret agreement as null and void.”

But Neil Cornrich, Prince’s agent, issued a statement Wednesday afternoon denying that the deal was secret and said Kansas State’s lawsuit is without merit. He said the lawsuit “unfairly” involves Prince in a private dispute between the school and Krause.

“Not only is it inaccurate to claim that this was a secret agreement, but also it makes no sense since the contract was mutually agreed upon, signed and legally binding,” Cornrich said. “Consequently, the legal position taken by KSU and IAC in this matter is without merit and will be exposed as such should they continue to pursue their present course of action.”

The university claims that it instructed Cornrich in January 2008 to correspond only with the athletic department’s attorney, Jacqueline Butler, regarding contract negotiations for Prince. The school said the request came after Cornrich sent an e-mail about negotiations to then-athletic director Tim Weiser, who is not an attorney.

The lawsuit claims that even after asking him to deal only with Butler, Cornrich corresponded in writing with Krause — who had replaced Weiser as athletic director — several times regarding Prince’s employment.