Jonathan Smith to Boise State.
Keith Heyward to Washington.
With the latter, OSU gave no counter offer. The former, they showed no interest.
Then factor in coaches like Mike Leach. Many fans didn't want him, but it would have been nice to entertain the idea. There have been plenty of situations like that over the last few years.
By being locked in to the status quo, OSU doesn't allow their program the versatility to improve when there's opportunity. In finance, this would be like putting all one's money into an illiquid and depreciating asset, such as a home, and then having no cash to buy the Dow Jones when it crashes to 1000. Such an investor could only watch this once in a lifetime wealth-building opportunity. Maneuverability, versatility, etc are good things. My brother is locked into a house, wife, and kids up in San Jose. I live with my girlfriend in Santa Barbara, have no children, and I rent. He tells me all the time how jealous he is that I can up and go wherever I wish for whatever reason I want at any time (and I concur). OSU has locked themselves into 9+ more years of the status quo, and watching program-improving coaches pass them by or move on is very disconcerting.