rumblings that the leverage play is not for more salary but nil money
To get more fans to donate or to get a higher percentage of the NIL pie?
Unless by "fans" you mean the big money donors, it would clearly be the latter. A casual fan (me) wouldn't assume their NIL commitment is going to do anything to sway a coach's decision.
Some of the NIL donations can be pledged for a specific sport, so I could easily imagine part of the discussion being whether the "general" donations should be split proportionally or whether a program with less pledged donations should get a disproportionate share of the general fund to make up for it.