Actually you are wrong. They had agreed to a contract at close to $2mm a year for 5 years including incentives but some buyout clauses kept him looking. Browns came in at 3mm+ a year and he was gone. If only he would have taken the contract we'd all be in a different place today.
I guess it all starts at the top and if the top wants to invest,and it has the funds as you say, it could be done. I just don't see UM as a school that will ever do what Bama, OSU, Texas and the other huge donor programs can do.
All of that takes a lot of money. When butch left he was negotiating to be paid top 3 of college football coaches. Times have obviously changed. We used to be the haves and now we are the have nots. Don't think we can ever truly compete with the big boys again.