i would think pensions are one of the reasons it is such an important issue for the state. Maybe the goal is that there would be no more then 200,000 paid by the state on the books and anything above that would be paid in some separate fund like was mentioned. In the past coaches would have a base salary that might look reasonable but they often would make extra from summer camps. I know that can be challenging for the university with space during the summer at a premium.
It should also be noted that for probably 80% of the coaches at the state schools coaches are paid very low compared to the hours they put in. For years the coaches at UCSC were paid a stipend of a few thousand dollars a year. They finally received a bump to minimum salary but it probably still is far lower then the university employee. At one time coaches at many of the UC’s and CSU would move over to the community colleges just to earn a decent wage.