To add to that, Walden was 56 when he got fired, after somehow being given 8 years (at least he can say he was compensated well for his failure). McCarney was 53 when he left ISU, and he got a nice opportunity at Florida. He's 62 now and have to think that and some of his health issues would make him an unattractive candidate for a major program regardless of his ISU stint. (otherwise, if he really wanted to jump back in, you'd think he mightve had some opportunities after his 9-4 season a couple years ago)
Going back farther, Criner cheated, which isnt going to win you many jobs, especially when you cheat and dont win big. Who knows what happens to his career if he doesnt cheat. Duncan? He eventually ended up at oklahoma as athletic director, where he made more upon hire there than he did when he resigned at ISU (before coaching salaries blew up as much as they have). So he seemed to do alright. Bruce? He went to Ohio State and had a great opportunity. Majors? Went on and had success.
The bigger problem is that we've stuck by bad and mediocre coaches far too long, far after theyve shown the rest of the country its not going to happen. Somewhere in the mccarney era we created this mythos that we have always sucked terribly and we will always suck terribly. And its made us afraid to reject terrible results.