was thinking about this:
State Legislature just named several new members to the Board of Regents. the BOR needs to find an Interim President, then jump into the hiring process for a new full-time President. The U of MN has other financial questions/issues with funding, state aid, bonding bill for facilities, etc.
add to that - US economy is slowing with some fears of a recession. and in Washington, there is a looming crisis with the Debt Ceiling. If the Debt Ceiling is not raised, the US could face a major financial meltdown.
So - how eager will the decision-makers at the U of MN really be to pay off a buyout on another coach, and then go out and cough up a big-time salary to hire a big-time coach? Not too bleepin' likely.
Leading to this theory: if Ben Johnson is fired after the 23-24 season, the U of MN will NOT hire a name coach for the reasons outlined above. I could be wrong, but that's how it looks from my vantage point. If people are hoping for Mr Big-Name Coach to ride in and save the day, good luck. I think it's far more likely the next coach will either be another young guy, or a Tubby-like hiring of an old guy looking for a pre-retirement job.