Have to take into some consideration that some deals are virtually "undoable" for UNLV. Yes, you may be able to hammer out a contract, but some guys have HUGE buyouts. And if the school being left requires that money in full, up front, you are SOL. That UNLV was able to piece a contract like this together was stretching things extremely thin.
The buyout of Dixon was 7 million. I'm sure it could have been negotiated down, but even half of that is sky high. So, in theory, you'd have to give Pitt 7M just to sign him to a 2.5M contract. This while you still owe Rice. Coming from a department that barely treads water.
Listen, I wish we had a T Boone that gave money hand over fist, but we don't. The financial situation at UNLV is and has been tenuous. We all want a huge name coach but we want to pay very little for him. Champagne tastes on a beer budget.
So one of the huge keys in these things is, what is the buyout? You can avoid that by hiring an assistant or a lower level D1 guy or an NBA guy or somebody currently not working.
