Clawson didn't sign his current contract in 2019, he signed it in 2017. Is there really no justification for giving "only" a $500-600k raise to a 0.35 coach instead of a $800-$1,000k raise? Is there really no justification to not adding years to a deal that lasts until 2024 when Clawson has received no interest from other programs? Is there really no justification for Clawson making effectively the same amount of money as Addazio, Cutcliffe, and Babers even if it is slightly less?
Unnecessarily throwing money at coaches is how you end up with the Manning debacle. We know the duration of Clawson's extension was similar to Manning's, fair bet that the value and buyout terms are similar too. If true then, in then moment, the Clawson extension would have been almost as bad of a decision as Manning's extension. They both took over programs in bad shape (football program was probably worse), had two bad seasons, and had one mediocre-to-good season. These are not the results worthy of an 8 year extension with a huge buyout. What has happened since is very different, thankfully.
It seems Wellman was unaware that you can sign a 3 or 4 year extension with a limited buyout, which is exactly what both the football and basketball situations called for during that off-season.