I think there was a lull between desperation periods, basically, where nobody was really breaking the bank financially in the SEC in the way they historically have. It looks like Tennessee is truly trying to "Harbaugh" Gruden right now. That number will be astronomical if it happens.
That said, let's wait until these things go official. There are always crazy names involved in these things early on.
This is one of the reasons I am glad we have Mullen and are paying him well. The rest of the conference has gone nuts with the coaching carousel that Saban has created. The fan bases and alumni at all of these schools think if they get the right high profile coach, they can become Alabama in a couple of years.
We went with a solid assistant and have given him time to grow and learn the ropes. He is still learning, you can see this every season recently as we have improved in different areas and assistants. He has also started to learn the recruiting game as evident by the current class.
I said from the start that as long as I saw improvement in our team each year from kickoff to the last regular season game, then I was satisfied with the job Mullen has done. The way our O line and defense has played this year, I would still give him a great year where we all felt we were a 6-8 win team. He just needs to close these last two games with emphasis and look for a couple of more gems we might get from the **** storms at UF and Tenn.