Here's a Juwan Simpson quote from an article from Sunday's Birmingham News when asked if the players have been consulted about the search:
"We only last four or five years around here. You expect a coach to be here for a long time. So we don't have much say."
"Expect" is the keyword in that quote.
I think the fact that post-Bryant coaches are lasting just under 3.5 seasons (which means the average player is outlasting the average coach) pretty much tells us why we're in our current predicament.