Does the school administration and trustees care enough to buy out the contracts? I highly doubt it. They have been crying poor since my brother played 25 years ago.
Here is how you can dump Phillips without breaking the budget. We have a small army of athletic administrators: an AD and seven people with titles of associate or assistant AD. And many more "directors' of this or that.
Scenario 1. Fire the foolish AD who gave the extension to the loser. Elevate one of the seven assistants to acting AD status. Use Strollo's salary to pay off Phillips for x number of years.
Scenario 2. Downsize 2 or 3 assistant/associate ADs (like we need them) and use that money to buy out Phillips.
Two feasible options. But at YSU it does not matter how bad programs are or how unhappy fans get. The priority is always to expand the number of worthless athletic (or for that matter academic) administrators that feed at the public trough.