"..a medium-to-high profile program in the Big Ten with plenty of money to spend should not be scrambling to find a coach..." Huh?

MSU under the current circumstances is a bad job. Given the the heat on MSU athletics in general much less the general screw-ups with the football program, you have to be desperate to take the job. A good friend of mine whose son is a prof at MSU says the general mood is very depressing and downright angry at the total failure of judgement within the athletic department.