In Coach Mile's case as with many College coaches I believe that while the money is nice, for them, their relationship with the athelets comes first to them. Some would say allegence to the school itself but I think the relationship to the individual atheletes is what affects most coaches and causes them concern. To them I believe the atheletes are relationships if not children to the coaches and as each coach goes through recruitment they make promises to be there to the kids who in turn make decisions based upon that person being their coach.
So decisions about a coach affect far more than just economics but rather has a definite affect upon the atheletes themselves. One athelete may excel under one coach and under a different one become an average player. Coach Miles and his method of coaching and being the person he is also creates an attachement between him and the fans as well. He's liked by the majority of fans as well as his players. I think LSU handled this horribly and I think that although they seemed to have sanity and reversed their allged decision in truth the decision most likely stood and what reversed it was when Jimbo Fisher (Florida State's Coach) put out advance notice that he would not be interested in the LSU job.
I believe LSU had no backup or strong alternative and that they wanted Jimbo Fisher and never considered he'd say no so when he did they reversed their decision at that moment. It's sad to say because if that is true then it means the management or administration at LSU cared little to none about what the players or the fans thought but only what they wanted, along with a few substantial boosters. Only they, though, will know if that's the truth and if Les would have actually been ask to leave if Jimbo Fisher said he was interested in the job.