I forget who, maybe Thamel, falsely stated that ND wouldn't pay Ludwig's buyout. Pretty sure it was proven incorrect, but ND publicly rolling him out at the hockey game and then Swarbrick sending a letter out scolding fans for their outrage meanwhile asking them for donations was a terrible look.
Thamel (nor any other reporter at that time) didn't falsely report anything. In his response letter that was widely circulated, Swarbrick confirmed Thamel's story by saying, " a national reporter
accurately noted that the candidate’s buyout in his current contract was an 'obstacle.'" JS confirmed Thamel's account but then used spin to blame fans for thinking that ND was unwilling to pay the buyout.
If you put all the pieces together, the buyout really was an "obstacle" at first which means it was the thing that was keeping them from getting a deal made while Ludwig was on campus. By the time JS's team got back with Ludwig to make it clear they were willing to pay the buyout it was too late. Ludwig had already changed his mind. JS's response letter was full of spin that did very little to dispel what many thought actually happened behind the scenes.