Sark didn't just shitcan his buddy the DC. He also threw out his whole offensive system and, in one offseason, simplified it and adopted the HUNH spread that pretty much every team in CFB was running at that point. Early returns were good, with a blowout of Coach Pete in newly reopened Husky Stadium. Sankey set the single season rushing record and went all-conference, average scoring went way up. They still had the brakes beaten off of them three times, because that's the Sark/Wilcox script, but that team won nine games instead of seven.
Firing his buddy and revamping the D ended up having no impact in the win/loss column. Shitcanning his own offensive system and replacing it with something completely different was good for two extra wins.
It's so sad that I'm sitting here thinking, "I wish Pete had a little Sark in him." Sark was lazy and drunk and undisciplined, but he wasn't stubborn. At least he had that.