There were a lot of coaching changes mid-season last year. The market for good coaches has gotten so competitive, and with the early signing period, we can't be standing around holding our dicks in our hands with no coach in January.
Last year, even if Frost had been fired on the field after the Iowa game, most of the good candidates were already spoken for. Even though we all know that a lot of talk happens behind the scenes, if a firing is inevitable it behooves a school to pull the trigger early, strip away the pretense, and get on the market.
Trev restructured Scott's contract with the October date for a reason.