I agree with your logic.If you bring him back, you should make him sign a new contract in which his buyout is massively reduced next season. Say 5 mil instead of 15 mil, but also greatly rewarding him for performance. Say $1,000,000 bonus for 8+ wins, $2,000,000 bonus for a West division title, $2,000,000 for B1G Championship, $2,000,000 for a playoff spot. Make him bet on himself, if he's as close as he preaches every week - he will jump on the opportunity to be the highest paid coach in the country after bonus checks. If he balks at he idea, then he probably isn't buying the stuff he's trying to sell in his pressers each week.
IF Scott wants to use his "If/Then" logic in stating, “If we play with that much spirit every game,” "then we win a few more games" ... for me, it's a perfect scenario then to get him into a contract that puts him in the "if/then". When he took the job he said he was gonna get this fixed. Did he believe in his own mind that it would take seven [7] years? Will he need nine [9] years? Is that where we are going?
I've heard a lot of bloviating that states that "it's just the cost of doing business". Okay. Well, Scott has affected his own market. It's "just business" to get Nebraska into a more favorable outcome in terms of wins and money. Scott, of all people, knows what the standard is. If he can't "get this fixed", the least he could do as a guy with a big red "N" in his heart ... is help Nebraska to truly get it fixed by winning or allowing the university to move on to a better coach.
Both Scott and Nebraska could stand to both win with this type of thinking.