Maybe he's not a bad dude, but maybe he screwed up. You've got multiple people in this thread referring to instances in the year where he went against Woodson's express orders. I don't know him either, but it seems like there's a lot of smoke. If that's the case, letting him go now is the way of having it be handled smoother. This is the time for coaching changes, it will get lost in the dozens of other schools making switches.
This firing is not going to torpedo Fife's career. If that could do it, Archie Miller would be unemployed today.