I'll be honest -- this was painful to watch. Joker Phillips clearly hates the fact that he has been fired, does not want to continue for the next two games, but completely understands why it is happening. I don't think he actually holds any grudges against anyone, but he is clearly frustrated by some of the fan actions.
As he said, I understand that frustration. I get that. It no longer matters. When you lose the fan support you need, for whatever reason, you have to move on. If Phillips had managed to win 4 games this year, I am confident he would have been retained, although under tremendous pressure. But below that, his demise was unavoidable.
Every coach wants more time to produce. Unfortunately, the perception among Kentucky fans was that he had more time than the 2.75 seasons he actually got. It doesn't really matter if that is fair or not, it is reality. I think when you see Gene Chizik and Derek Dooley bite the dust here in a few weeks, the criticism than many are leveling about Kentucky fans being unreasonably impatient will be mitigated.
Honestly, Phillips has handled this about as well as any human being could. That's a credit to him, and he should take some time to recharge, evaluate what he has learned from this experience and assimilate the future possibilities before jumping back on the horse.