DeSantis had some of the most experienced folks in Republican politics as consultants and aides. Many of them had been doing this stuff for decades.
They threw in the towel because they had a full understanding of the territory.
What they understood was that either President Trump would be the nominee or someone popular with Trump delegates would replace him if he was not available.
Nikki is hated by Republicans—the longer she runs the worse it gets.
The DeSantis team did the focus group work and understood the facts on the ground.
Since the “DeSantis team” has played a particularly stupid game of presidential poker. They are no longer in a position to seamlessly pick up the pieces should some “Black Swan” event happen. The good will they once had was spent foolishly and decisively in a negative way.