I understand what you’re saying, but it’s not a game or a cheap attempt to make the other guy look bad, and there are several reasons for it.
It’s really easy to say, “Fahr heeum!” Then, when asked who the replacement should be, far too often the answer is, “Anybody would be better than this!”
First, that abdicates responsibility for advocating someone’s firing. Second, it’s simply not true.
You can’t replace a fired coach with “Anybody.” You have to replace him with another person who presumably has a name.
On top of which, as a manager, you need to have at least one backup, preferably more. IOW, you need to have several specific names who (1) represent an upgrade over your current circumstances, and (2) are willing to at least listen to an offer.
The question is also an attempt to take some emotion out of the situation. Often the “Fahr heeum!” comes in frustration (as yesterday). Nobody is happy with yesterday’s performance, and we had some advocacy for firing Rees, Wolford and even questioning Saban.
But when faced with the question of who specifically, not named Anybody, would be an upgrade and would come, the gravity of the decision often starts to sink in.
Recently, I’ve also heard (not on TF), something along the lines of, “I’m a fan, I can say whatever I want.” Which is really just another way of saying, “I have no stinkin' idea what I’m yammering about. I’m just an angry (often drunk) guy venting his spleen.” IOW, "I’m the drunk village idiot howling at the moon. Pay me no mind." I'm happy to accommodate that.
Bottom Line: There is nothing easier than to scream (or type) “Fire him!” in a moment of frustration. But that action has lots of downstream implications, some of which might not be public, and might not be easily predictable.
The question is not a game. It’s not an attempt by a pointy-headed mod to say, “Gotcha!” It’s an attempt to slow down, take a breath or 10, and decide whether you’re really prepared for the consequences, both foreseeable and unforeseeable, of an action that can’t be undone.
