He was told a month earlier he would not get to do both. He knew it. It wasn't news to him that final weekend. Some of us on the beat wrote about that, talked about that, etc. That was never an option. Everyone knew it.
Everyone gets mad at Lane Kiffin for leaving, and I understand the resentment. But part of the reason it turned into a major circus was that the man wanted to stay through the CFP run.