No one else thinks the millions in payouts are crazy and shouldn't be happening?
What's your point? There's only 3 ways they don't happen:
1) Schools stick with their losing/bad coaches through the end of their contracts, regardless the damage that does to recruiting, fan support, fund raising, etc.
2) Schools concoct real or imagined reasons to fire said losing/bad coaches "for cause" (thus voiding or reducing the buy-out). These justifications may be subsequently found to have been dubious or insufficient (hello Kansas and David Beatty), leading to reinstated buyouts and (depending on how nasty things get) putative or compensatory damages. Alternatively, you'd see a rise in the proportion of contracts that require pay-out regardless of NCAA or other sanction.
3) If real, enforceable mechanisms are developed that release schools from their contractual obligation to pay out the previously negotiated and mutually agreed to buyouts for early termination of a coach's contract, I predict you'd start to see contracts that are heavily front loaded to mitigate this risk (e.g. currently Coach A is signed to a school to coach for 10 years at $10 million/year; to mitigate against early-termination risk/legally excused welching on the buyout, Coach A's contract might instead be structured such that he's paid $99.1 Million dollars in year 1 and $100,000/year in years 2-10).
Do you think any of those are more likely than large payouts continuing to be paid?