I smirked at this. Just for raw logic purposes, typically firing a coach mid-season is a form of giving up or almost throwing your hands up. I don't think he wanted to send that signal, and I think there's proof of that because he'd just said they likely wouldn't be sellers. He and Allen during the offseason reiterated a lot, they aren't interested in trading guys who can help them win. So firing Allen mid-season was a subtle admission they don't think they can still win, and sending that message to the players can go either way.