In the event that both coaches were available and interested (which sounds like it's not the case), it's not the Madsen buyout that's as financially problematic, but rather the step up in pay he would need to be pried away from Cal. The buyout is a one-time event and is largely a wash with the UK buyout of Pope. But Madsen is already at a $2.7M base, which would put him into the low/mid $3M range annually.

Burgess, as of '22, was in the 250K range at the UU, so even a big step up might simply be in the $2M annual range where Pope was, in addition to avoiding a buyout.

So, over something like a five year projection, Madsen probably costs you about $10-12M more than Burgess — the buyout plus the higher initial annual salary.

BYU has earned it's cheapskate reputation, but it does bear asking the question of whether the marginal performance difference between the two coaches is indeed worth that much of a financial difference. I'm a clear Madsen lean if both are available, but I'm not sure about swallowing the cost differential.

*Note: while we haven't yet received equal Big12 funding yet, the average HC in our conference earns $3.5M