Four more years, really, because of the way the coaching hire cycle works. These dates say December 31 - so if they were to fire him in three years, during the 2028 coaching cycle, they would still owe $42.5MM. They’d have to wait until 2029 to get it to the $34MM number. At that point, they’d need him to coach the 2029 season as well.
You’re absolutely right that their best shot is to try to negotiate with him and see if he’ll take a reduced contract. He did take a reduced salary this past year and “give” some money back into the facilities build. But ****, they are not coming from a position of strength here. He could absolutely dig his heels in and say **** you, pay me. What a mess.