So thinking about Foster wasn't completely delusional.
Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer and athletics director Jim Weaver worked quickly to counter USC's offer with a salary bump for Foster, already the Hokies' highest-paid assistant at nearly $300,000 a year, according to the Daily Press of Newport News, Va.
Spurrier said Weaver also gave Foster a raise in 1999 when Spurrier talked to him about replacing Bob Stoops, who had left for Oklahoma.
"He's had a tremendous record as a defensive coordinator, no question about it. So we had a couple conversations. But obviously it didn't lead anywhere," Spurrier said of Foster. "If he got a little bit more money out of it, so be it."
This time, Spurrier said Foster initiated the contact through a third party.
"So naturally I followed up. I said, 'If you want to come, you need to talk it over with your wife and coach Beamer if you’re ready to leave. We'll pay you the going rate, a generous offer,'" Spurrier said Sunday.
"But he's never left there. He's been there 20 years. I asked (USC assistant and former Virginia Tech player) Shane Beamer, 'Do you think he'll leave?' He said, 'Nah.' He really probably needs to leave to be a head coach somewhere."[Emphasis, as always, is mine.--ed]
This sounds, to me, like money wasn't really the deciding factor. Foster probably got a bit more money than he would have to go to South Carolina, though he might have just been flirting with the idea. Spurrier, as a good coach will, followed up. But when it came time, Foster couldn't pull the trigger.
Of course, this is all speculation, but I think the rumors that Hyman isn't willing to pay look less and less grounded in fact as days go by. I think the Gamecocks are willing to pay the right guy -- if he's ready to come to South Carolina.
In the meantime, be sure to go to this post to take a look at a few of the candidates and cast your vote for the next DC. I'll post the results of the poll Friday morning.