Questions like this cannot be answered until an official announcement has been made. But consider that a hypothetical coach MIGHT want to move for reasons other than money or state titles, perhaps to be closer to family or something like that. And you might assume that said hypothetical coach would not be making such a move unless he had received promises that he would have long term protections. I am speaking here for no one except myself, and this is just my speculation as to your questions.
I can also say that the fan base is tired of the constant coaching carousel. What many of us have wanted for a long time was a coach with local ties who would come in and build our program up. We thought we had that a few years ago with another big-name coach who has gone on to great success with his current program. Things went sideways with that for some reason and a lot of people here were very dissatisfied. The fan base will be extremely irritated if a capable coach gets this job and then is not given the opportunity to rebuild our program.
Also, we were maybe half a dozen plays away from a 7-3 season last year-things just didn't break our way. We have a good QB and two very good receivers coming back, so something like an 8-2 season is possible. The QB and the WR with the most yardage will both be juniors next year, so there's a lot to build on and I think the WR could be a D1 recruit. We need some work, but our program could also be on the cusp of sustained success.
