I have heard reports that basically it came down to two issues: 1. many in the organization did not like to deal with him, never developing a level of trust and 2. he was/wanted to be too involved in the football operations and kind of ignored the business side.
He was not trusted or liked by a number of employees, board members, and corporate types.
He promoted 2 people to VP positions on the business side, further isolating him from this role and deepening his interest in the football side.
Both of these were red flags for Harlan, who was hesitant to pull the plug during his illness and subsequent recovery, perhaps opening the team up to a messy lawsuit. The timing sucked, but this has been simmering on the back burner for some time.