So you're going off rumor then. By widely documented you mean information probably distributed by one of the many 9.95 companies that are competing against each other for the niche pool of fanatical Texas fans willing to pay for information about the football team. That information was then picked up by the others as they don't want to be viewed as being left behind and the rumors swell like crazy until people like you say well it must be true because it's coming from all sides. The benefit of fabricating sensationalist stories to maintain interest in a subscription business model is so great there's zero chance that isn't happening.
So ask yourself if Herman was this giant asshole personality who rubs everyone raw then why did he get an extension? Surely they wouldn't do that so early and eagerly to a guy who's that bad. Also, why didn't that information come up about him from his time elsewhere before he arrived? A guy just doesn't become a giant asshole starting in his 40s.
This is a perfect example of why I said in the other threads that the 9.95 rumor mill garbage business is a pure leech on your program's ability to maintain success. They start rumors that get circulated widely because there's so many of them in this echo chamber and it gets to people like you who believe it without questioning it. And if it gets to you then you know it's getting to recruits and their parents too.
From all the evidence it appears most likely that CDC made a play for the white whale but fucked up by not doing it completely secretly. Once it became public knowledge Herman was completely neutered and it became impossible to go back to him with any credibility once his bosses were just caught trying to replace him. So they had no choice but to pay the money to replace him with a coach who by all measures seems to be worse in his previous stops as a head coach. A state University paying out what with the new contracts will be around $40 million in frivolous spending in one year during a pandemic when millions in the country are suffering financially. That's just horrible optics and fuck ups of the highest level.