as a state.

When you factor in TV + Bowls + Tickets + concessions + endorsements/sales + notoriety to the school + merch + restaurants and hotels that fill up on game days +game weekends + travel and tourism, etc - a winning team means A LOT to a local economy and school.

So my take on BYU is this:

BYU has a bunch of smart guys and they have spreadsheets. And they know how much revenue BYU in 2021 Brough in versus BYU in 2017 and BYU in 2004, etc. They also are aware of what will be rolling in due to the B12 TV, Gate etc. They are not stupid enough to lowball a dude, when doing so may end up hurting their own bottom line. Pay a guy 1MM per year and have 10MM in revenue, versus pay a good guy 3MM per year and have 20MM in revenue - seems pretty straight forward.

I have no inside source. I'm not part of the inner circle. But I do have a career centered on compensation principles and market matching - and this is how it works. People are describing this wrong on here pretty often. It's not the number of millions spent in salary, IMO - it's what does that investment in salary buy you, while still maintaining the cultural integrity of your place.

If I were on the data committee, the first thing I'd do is get the salaries of each Big12 coach, find the average for coaches in that conference and try to get close to that number. I'd be willing to bet the conversations have included some of this very established best practice thinking. These guys aren't dumb. And I don't even think they are cheap - they are very smart and principle based.