My guess on the T.J. situation is:
1) The St. John's job opened and Matt A had some interest, spoke to Fred, and Fred said he was thinking about going Bulls (at least) so Matt A left.
2) Fred gave a call to T.J. to replace Matt A. and in that conversation, Fred said he was thinking about going Bulls (at least) so T.J. came to ISU.
3) When T.J. left Washington, he told Romar whatever Fred had told him regarding the Bulls. This explains Romar's comments about why T.J. left.
So I think T.J. came to ISU because he wanted to have a better shot at the HC job but it wasn't promised to him by anyone. I don't buy the whole "T.J. was JP's choice until Leath got involved" thing. For one, if that were true, JP would be taking the next open job he could find so I guess we could wait and see if that happens.
I think T.J. had to know the risks of jumping ship when he did so because if he wasn't hired, he could be out of a job for a year, but he's a guy who's looking for an HC job anyway and I imagine he'll get a small-school HC position for 16-17 regardless of whether he's an ISU coach this year or not.