First regarding Bill's contract. He was given what's essentially a lifetime contract. The contract was absolutely problematic, most K-State fans have spent the last three or so years bitching about the rolling contract. Gene also sees the issue with the contract and wants to change it. He didn't renegotiate the contract in 2017 because he just got here. Isn't the very obvious reason for the increased buyout is that Bill asked for it when this new athletic director asked him to get rid of his rolling contract?
The new contract didn't fix any sort of rollover problem. There was no rollover problem. The ability to end Bill's tenure didn't change one bit between the prior version and the new version, other than that the new version had us paying more (and quicker) to terminate him.
The reason there needed to be a new contract is because the old one, while it rolled over with respect to Bill's job, did not roll over beyond 1/31/18 with respect to paying him. As written, Bill's 1/31/18 paycheck should've been his last one. That's what prompted there to be a need for something to be done in writing. It could have been a pretty simple addendum. Instead it was a new contract. Bill may had some perceived leverage to get an increased buyout in that Gene would've looked like crap to most of KSTATEO if Bill walked at a time when people were excited about the 2018 football season. Gene should've let him go then and installed his boy.
As far as whether or not this was a bonafide coaching search, of course it was. Even if Gene began with the end in mind, I think he did, so what? He knew he wanted to hire Klieman, but he did his due diligence to see if there was anyone who could blow him away. They didn't. Also dlew, to say you don't have a problem with Klieman but you have a problem with the search is disingenuous. The only question is if he hired a qualified applicant. Klieman is certainly qualified, especially placed against the other candidates. Did he hire someone he had a previous relationship with? Of course, why wouldn't he? That's what many people who hire others do. I feel like this is done in the legal profession, a lot, why are we acting like this is in need of a special council?
Agreeing that he always wanted Klieman:
1) Did it require $2.3m to get him?
2) Did we only entertain options who were cool with $2.3m?
3) If Gene weighed all the options and couldn't tell a difference so he went for the one he knew, should a more discerning eye gotten involved?
It's counsel, Don. 
Whether or not the new contract resolved a rollover issue is immaterial. I'll defer to you as you certainly have a better knowledge of what's in those contracts. I will say that if the new contract didn't solve any rollover issues, that doesn't match the rhetoric from both contacts. The one Currie did was criticized from the start and the one that Gene did wasn't. The real story here is that you can only bitch about the increased buyout if you ignore seems like the most likely scenario and that's Bill is the one who wanted it. And yes, if he asked for a $3 million buyout, you absolutely give it to him. That's an insanely low buyout for any P5 coach. You want to talk about "small time?" There's nothing more small timey than potentially arguing about a $3 million buyout for a hall of fame football coach.
Note to Klieman's contract.
1. Yes, he is worth $2.3 million, and you know it too. What he made before is immaterial. That's a good value for a P5 coach with no P5 experience. We would have had to pay LittreLL, Brown, and Norvell more than that but with the exception of Norvell, there isn't any additional relevant experience to match the price tag.
People who keep mentioning his previous salary in relation to what we paid him are to blinded by bias to be rational. Did any of those people expect ku to base their salary for miles based on what he was making from Dos Equis? Did anyone think ASU should pay Herm Edwards based on his ESPN salary? How much do you think Jim Harbaugh's first contract was at Stanford?
As silly as I think the discussion over Bill's buyout is, at least it's possible that dlew is right, not at all likely, but possible. The discussion over this dudes salary is triple dumb. Not only does it assume that he didn't ask for something north of $2 million, but he's absolutely a bargain given the market, so who the hell cares?
