[Goose]

The issue isn't if Jim Harbaugh is good or not.  He is good.  The issue is he is being paid so much to be elite and he is not elite.

Are you sure he is being paid so much to be elite? As I see it, he probably would coach at Michigan for less money than he is getting. I believe that the big payment is more driven by Michigan saying "See, we are big time and will do what it takes to be elite" rather than actually being elite. If you have the money, actually paying it out has no downside. Alums will contribute to paying JH, so no reason not to do so. The same alums may not contribute to paying for women's gymnastics, so the money pot is not fixed size. It becomes an issue only when the money isn't available any more, which may be coming if things don't improve.
At Cal, everybody is worried that Wilcox is using the job as a stepping stone, so the AD wants to show he is doing all that can be done to keep him. Overpaying is one way to do that. Cal isn't exactly flush, so it is harder to do, but Wilcox was kind of golden (until the last two games. Fans are very fickle.) Coach's salaries are often more about optics than performance.

[Goose]

The issue isn't if Jim Harbaugh is good or not.  He is good.  The issue is he is being paid so much to be elite and he is not elite.

Are you sure he is being paid so much to be elite? As I see it, he probably would coach at Michigan for less money than he is getting. I believe that the big payment is more driven by Michigan saying "See, we are big time and will do what it takes to be elite" rather than actually being elite. If you have the money, actually paying it out has no downside. Alums will contribute to paying JH, so no reason not to do so. The same alums may not contribute to paying for women's gymnastics, so the money pot is not fixed size. It becomes an issue only when the money isn't available any more, which may be coming if things don't improve.
At Cal, everybody is worried that Wilcox is using the job as a stepping stone, so the AD wants to show he is doing all that can be done to keep him. Overpaying is one way to do that. Cal isn't exactly flush, so it is harder to do, but Wilcox was kind of golden (until the last two games. Fans are very fickle.) Coach's salaries are often more about optics than performance.