I think people are being highly illogical in their thoughts of who the AD has in mind when a change is made.
He wanted to clear off $6M in buyouts before hiring a new coach (he failed, but that was his plan). You don't do that if you are simply looking for an inexpensive option. An inexpensive option would not require you to clean up your previous commitments like that. That is an action you take when you want to have a free hand and a relatively deep wallet to use.
I think he had candidates in mind, but I think they were candidates that were likely going to be in the $2M/yr +- 10% range. Who they are I don't know, but my sense was it wasn't going to be guys that would come cheap.
also, given the AD's past, I don't think the use of Eddie Fogler, or any search firm, is likely.
They will want someone they are comfortable will make sure the young men do the work in the classroom. They do not want a repeat of the late Hewitt period where multiple scholarships were lost and a potential post season ban was not far off. Only East Carolina has lost more scholarships in the APR era than GT.