She signed a 5 year contract in 2013 that took her though the end of this season, so buying her out wouldn't really have been a consideration. Some move was going to have to be made anyway. Losing 19 MAC games in a row over two seasons obviously didn't bode well. I was wondering then what might happen at the end of the season and am surprised it didn't happen sooner after our season ended. For what it's worth, BGSU endured 4 years of big losing before letting their long time (assistant and the head) coach go. I think the beginning of Kest's downfall was not capitalizing on the NCAA success with successful recruiting classes for 14-15 and 15-16.
It's not difficult at all if you look at her record over the last three years. She is in a profession that always asks "What have you done for us lately." She neither recruited well, nor coached 'em up, nor laid the foundation for a turnaround. We should, and must, expect more.
You raise some good points, but this is women's basketball we are talking about here. I hope Mr. Williams finds a great value for the job. No more top of the conference salaries for women's bball.