I don't know... my guess is that this was the plan all along and that KF has known for a while who the next coach will be. This is the perfect night for this sort of release-- a week after the bowl announcement but with plenty of time before game week so newspapers can run their Norm appreciation stories without it being a distraction. It also gives the players time to digest the fact that this is Norm's last game before they get really intense into the bowl prep.
I know that Norm is not one for the spotlight, but this is obviously a big deal to Kirk, and it's not surprising to me that he would want Norm to have his moment before announcing the next DC (at which point everyone's going to talk nonstop about it, good or bad). I expect to see that announcement some time after the bowl game but before the national championship game, about a month before national signing day.