I can’t tell if people are gE-ing, but it is WAY better to force Bill out when there aren’t any super hot prospects available. It was always going to be an awkward transition, and we certainly would’ve missed out on any top prospects because of the crappy timing in Bill “making the decision” plus the whole following a legend issue.
No matter who we hire next, we either catch lightning in a bottle or we at least give ourselves the chance to be in a position to nab the next Tom Herman type when they come up.
So really the most important thing IMO is not wasting money on an unproven. Either pay top dollar for a proven candidate or find a guy who wants to prove himself and pay him like any unproven guy. In that way, GT was probably in the right when he drew a line in how much $ we’d give a promising (but unproven) guy like LittreLL. At the same time CK makes quite a bit of sense as a gamble if we can get him cheap.
It’s been said a bunch that KSU has this massive war chest, but if we go all in on a guy who flops at KSU, that money will go away pretty quick and not be replenished nearly as fast as it came in.