No one's saying that he wouldntve had plenty of reason to take that job.
That doesnt mean AT ALL that he wasnt pushed out. He couldve been nudged to look for other opportunities, and he hit a home run getting the OSU job. You act like the two things are mutually exclusive, that OSU would never hire him if he'd been pushed out. But from their end all they see is a guy looking for other opportunities.
We have no proof either way. I couldve seen Rhoads letting him go (it seems a bit early, but it was contract renewal time.. either do it now or pay more to break it later), or i could definitely have seen him being kept on.