Mean his coordinator needed to be fired or that he was "bad." Howell was much worse and Bronco not only kept him but completely took over unlike Sitake. He still has a job today and people have said he's actually grown. Imagine that.
I'm not sure who is trying to "excuse last year." There's no excusing it. It's simply in the past where it belongs. Nobody is trying to keep it around like you seem to be by continuing to talk about it.