Put yourself in Benedict’s shoes:
You have to drum up 10 million dollars to fire someone. You literally have to go out and beg for this money.
Someone that you just extended and while you didn’t negotiate the deal, your name is at the bottom.
When they ask you - who are you going to
replace him with? You say - hopefully Danny Hurley? And if he likes one of his P5 offers better - then what?
Then put yourself in Herbst’s shoes:
The state is going to clamp down on your university’s funding.
While it might be ‘private’ money that funds the buyout - your athletic department is bleeding like a hemophiliac at a razor blade factory.
The optics of the university burning 10 million dollars to make someone they just extended go away is horrendous. Herbst is a politician - she knows damn well that the UConn enemies in Hartford will use it as evidence they shouldn’t be funded as well as they are.
My employer makes billions a year and winning $10 million dollars to fund something is a monumental deal.
UConn’s athletic department looks at 2015 Radio Shack financials and says - what are you guys complaining about?