earn our way into a P5. It was never to go back to a G5. Yes, he wanted to get out of Independence as soon as possible but to a P5 not back to a G5. He said over and over that even though we have to do it with less money, he felt we still could compete with the best in the country.
BTW, you say coaches in the AD wanted to go "back" to a conference. They are all in a conference except for football. They may not like the conference they are in but until they start dominating the conference they are in, they really can't complain.