empowerment era a program might be more powerful if (1) they rolled out Coach Joe Schmoe with a small salary and huger NIL offerings than (2) if they pay a coach a lot and have small NIL offerings. I get that they can't use the AD money for NIL, so might as well spend it on a good coach.

Players see these huge salaries for coaches and don't say to themselves - oh let me go play for this cool coach for just a scholarship and room and board and good food. They see the huge salaries here and are reminded that they are justified to do hardball negotiating to get more NIL - because there such huge sums of money being generated in these industries and they understand they deserve a bigger piece of the pie.