After RG had dealt with MM looking for a way out, he then had MT expressing frustration over CU not fulfilling promises of cooperation and bolting after a year, EB refusing over CU refusing to meet demands for cooperation and SS backing out for the same reasons to stay in a coordinator role. So, yeah, I believe that RG wants to win, knows that he needs a recruiter to get the program back to where it was, but realized it was an impossible path to hire and retain a guy who fits that profile with how things are at CU. Therefore, he went with stability and a guy who has eyes wide open on CU whom boosters would support and could hopefully stabilize things and build a foundation (maybe even win) under the current administration and culture.
Having experienced it and how difficult it is to be responsible for an organization but with ownership that doesn't value success and growth as the top priorities, I understand why RG changed course like he did. Just as I understand why MB had previously done the job to align with the reality of his bosses' values instead of pushing his own agenda.