The contract has a clause built in allowing the administration to make this decision, and compensating the coach an agreed upon amount for that decision. That’s what the buyout is. The coach didn’t need to default to get fired, because the firing is a mechanism defined in the contract. What you’re describing is only applicable when an administration tries to fire a coach “for cause” and avoid paying the buyout.

Apologies - This was intended as a response to a different comment.

The contract has a clause built in allowing the administration to make this decision, and compensating the coach an agreed upon amount for that decision. That's what the buyout is. The coach didn't need to default to get fired, because the firing is a mechanism defined in the contract. What you're describing is only applicable when an administration tries to fire a coach "for cause" and avoid paying the buyout.

I think a bigger nightmare scenario not mentioned here is that Bentley takes a step back. I'm optimistic about him, but with six games of tape on him, and very different expectations, it's reasonable to think that he might not end up where people think he will, and that would be very bad for this team.