Boosters have influence. They are the inmates, not the wardens. When the inmates run the asylum... you've got trouble.
Nebraska is a business that runs on cash, and the boosters have the cash. So you don't piss them off, and you listen to what they say. But you also don't DO everything they say, because they're just schmoes - schmoes with money. A guy who, say, runs a construction business might have a spare couple million laying around that he may put into your pocket, but he also may have zero clue whatsoever which guy is the right guy to hire for your football coach. Just because a guy has money, or is a good businessman, doesn't mean he has Clue One how to run a football team. The skill sets necessarily aren't a 1:1 match.
Case in point: The Ford family & the Detroit Lions. Another example: The Tribune Company and the Chicago Cubs. Some guys (Jerry Jones, George Steinbrenner) know a thing or two about the sport they love, and they can be successful. Others (Mark Cuban) can be taught, and eventually succeed. But not everyone can do this, and when you have an oligarchy of boosters running about making decisions, well.... you're hoping that they all have even half a brain between them when it comes to major college football. Most don't.
