Gold Coast chairman Bob East says his chief executive Mark Evans was right to publicly back coach Stuart Dew despite the AFL club sacking him less than a week later.
Dew, who was contracted until the end of next season, was voted out in a Monday night board meeting with the Suns 7-9 for the season and highly likely to miss finals for a 13th-straight campaign.
Speculation around Dew's position has been a constant in recent seasons and was amplified last week, prompting Evans to join the coach at his weekly press conference.
Evans offered his qualified support without guaranteeing Dew would remain in the job, and denied he had spoken to former Richmond coach Damien Hardwick as a potential replacement.
The Suns led second-placed Port Adelaide at halftime on Saturday before conceding nine goals in the third term, the loss serving as the final chapter in Dew's five-and-a-half season stint at Gold Coast.
Evans and East fronted media on Tuesday to confirm Dew's exit and defend last Wednesday's show of solidarity.
"Mark ... did the right thing by coming out and supporting Stuart," East said.
"Every effort was made to make this club a success.
"I don't think it's misleading ... there should be a process of continual evaluation and continuous improvement.
"It did crystallise over the weeks and months that there were gaps."
East said he'd been to "every function, every stand, every bar" to gauge the expectations of the club's supporters, and that the feedback aligned with the board's decision to search for a new coach.
He added that Evans, who was Hawthorn's football boss and AFL football operations manager before arriving at Carrara, had his backing to lead the exercise.
"Mark is absolutely top shelf and fully capable," East said.
"We all have a role now to step up ... and make this decision worthwhile."
