I think the rub is that if you’re Holmoe/some other decision maker you want to seem to the outside world like you’re letting things be proven on the field in some objective way. Big decisions like firing someone have to be 100% defensible. So that lends itself to what you’re saying, to give them 4ish seasons.

OTOH, being a former coach himself and being close to the program, I’d imagine Tom knew sooner than most that this wouldn’t pan out and knew that popularity aside, it’d be better to move on immediately (at least I hope Tom has the ability to see stuff like that). The question is if you’re cool saying to the public “I didn’t like what I saw so I made a move.”