you know, not to give Mitch too much credit here, but given that we've all heard that within the first couple of years Cal was successful in marginalizing Mitch's influence in his ability to run the program, the suggestions of a pro Cal director of basketball operations who acted as the liaison between them, perhaps Mitch did not have much say in the contract. Of course in his position its associated as being his decision but if Mitch doesn't have any say about his interactions with Cal because Cal had no tolerance for his meddling in his program, then why would Mitch be in favor of keeping this guy around indefinitely?
If you carry that line of thought even further, I would guess that Mitch was relishing the opportunity to go on the air and undermine Cal's messaging by reiterating to the fan base what is important to him as the AD and perhaps calling out the people who supported minimizing his authority over Cal.
At a minimum the forced liaison and lifetime contract seemed at opposite ends of the spectrum for an AD.