First it wasn't 'Congress' that said that. How does 'Congress' even make such a statement? A Supreme Court Justice said it. I feel like Dpdoll...correcting everyone is fun.
Anyway, all AD's say things like this, it doesn't really mean anything. That is what Maturi intended to do, and he still may, but he surely didn't anticipate losing to USD or starting the season say 1-7when he made those remarks. Things like that tend to force you deal with the situation sooner then you intended, which is probably a nightmare for old Joel.
But I tend to agree that 'I'll know it when I see it' is not a bad standard, especially when facing a very tough schedule. But do we really want Maturi being the one trying to apply this standard?
Personally, I had seen enough at the end of last season. Terrible coaching in the Illinois and SDSU games complete with inept offense in the Iowa game were enough for me. Brew blathering on about how proud he was after being shut out by his rival for the second year in a row was the final nail in the coffin. (Not only is a terrible coach, but he doesn't know/care when he sounds like a fool.) And the icing on the cake was the dust-up over the Kansas job. We don't know exactly what's true/false, but it seems awfully likely he sent out feelers. If he wasn't cooked before, that should have been the last straw.