In terms of finances, I can never coach again (or work) and live a better life than your current one. In terms of my desire to coach, I am sure it would still be there.
The coach was never on the hot seat. In fact, last year, he was offered a three year extension. He didn't sign it. He was also told before last recruiting season (before signing day 2016) that he was not to worry about wins/losses as much as he was to worry about staying under budget and making sure the team didn't get into trouble (arrests, grades, etc.). The reasoning for this was because the program was not fully funded in scholarships at FCS until this coming year, the facilities were sub-par, and they were building to have a top team next year when their new on-campus stadium opens.
So, with that assurance, the head coach aimed at recruiting a ton of high schoolers to fill the spots they needed knowing that they didn't need to win this year (this past season). Then, the carpet was pulled from under him the day of the last game. The AD explained that it wasn't a case of wins/losses, so the head coach was never on the hot seat.
Two other teams in the same conference moved up to FCS at the same time as Abilene Christian. Abilene Christian has 3-1 record against those teams and are ahead of both on the field. Yet, those teams haven't let their head coach go. Just two years ago, with less than half of the amount of scholarship that FBS teams have, this head coach led Abilene Christian to a win over an FBS and a last second 4th-and-20 miracle loss to another FBS. So, clearly, he had no problem winning even with far less scholarships and funding than opponents.
It was a case of a rookie AD wanting to get his hires in there. He just canned the volleyball coach (who had a .500 record in the conference during his career, which is impressive considering his program just moved from D2 to D1, so he was competing already), canned the track coach the year before (who was very succesful), and has tried canning the baseball coach (though the coach's family has donated millions in building the nice baseball facilities, so it had put a barrier up for the AD to make a move). Regarding football, much of it had to do with a player not getting any playing time or special treatment (other than an undeserved scholarship). The player's parents donated $35 million to the new stadium (including naming rights), donated tens of millions more for a recent new science building, and have donated tens of millions more for naming rights to other buildings on campus.
It's the politics of college sports. The head coach who was terminated was never on the hot seat, was given assurance that wins/losses didn't matter this year since the AD wanted to build a roster for success next year, and was one of the most quality guys in college football as a person.
