Just my read on the situation, but Kelly was the first coach in history to leave ND willingly for another coaching position. When you're Jack Swarbrick, I imagine you know this little bit of trivia and know that optics really matter for this potential embarassment. So I think there was a reason Jack made it very public that ND didn't make a matching offer, likely put out the rumors that it didn't enforce the buyout, and put so much effort into stopping the staff from following BK. The goal was to say (without speaking) that ND was just about as done with this relationship as BK was, and was holding open the door for him to walk out of.