They would be happy to cough up the $$$ if they knew they could get someone of Nick Saban's category, and would be happy to pay the buyout.
They didn't have any trouble paying the victims the settlement money from the Jerry Sandusky incident to the tune of nearly $120 million.
Regarding the second part of your statement, I do agree, that they'd have a hard time finding such a unicorn. So far, Franklin has been the equivalent of Brian Kelly (contending for top 10 spots, gets to a BCS / NY6 bowl on occasion).
Right now, their best hope of getting someone hungry and capable would probably be to poach Jim Knowles from tOSU, but that would mean having to endure growing pains, and I'm not sure the fanbase is going to be patient this time around.