Negotiations are difficult at any level, they're even more difficult when you're talking about $10M-$20M worth of head coach and assistant coaching salaries. I don't have real insight into how the University of Michigan works but I will give you advice from being in a corporate environment for more years than I want to admit.
Let me start with Warde. I don't love his leadership in the Athletics office, he bungled the hockey coach situation and almost made a terrible decision in hiring his buddy Ed Cooley as Michigan's head basketball coach. He has a difficult job, because the person below him and above him has more power than he does.