re: As an outsider, I will say this:

quote:

---

I would have never believed LSU would wiat until the week before the season ended to enter into "serious negotiations" with an agent about money.

---

This happens because it gives both sides the opportunity to find leverage somehow. If the coach finishes the season in brilliant fashion with his old team, he has leverage at the end of the season. If the searching school can find several coaches willing to talk, that gives them leverage at the end of the season.

Moreover, waiting until the season is over makes both parties "motiviated"--they are unlikely to get to their bottom line in the middle of a season because there's so much time left to look for leverage.