I probably would have given him another year, but emphasize that the defense has enough talent to be top half, and if you want to keep Hurt, it likely won't end well. But I get it. 25-25 or whatever since 2021. That year and this year were underachievements, and even the '20 season was kind of a letdown.
Something along these lines was probably done at the end of the 2021 season. Most likely at that time John and Jody were on the same page and told PC something like:
There are two things holding back this team. 1) The defense is bottom-feeder and must be improved. KNJ is not cutting it so you need to find a new DC to turn this around, and 2) RW is not providing the necessary production. We can't give him a $50M/yr contract, but we can get massive trade capital to help rebuild the defense.
The #1 priority for this team is to show substantial improvement on defense over the next few years. With the expected haul of picks and the freed up cap money, anything other than such improvement will be considered an intolerable failure.
In business-speak, the meaning is clear. Fix the defense or you're outta here. When PC did his Monday show and spoke repeatedly about his desire to stay, he already knew he had failed and that there was a high probability he was going to be relegated. When he was talking about still wanting to coach at his post-dismissal press conference, he was just letting all the NFL owners that he was available for hire.
Professionals like Jody don't just fire out of the blue. With PC's position, stature, and respect he was given plenty of notice of the expectations. He failed to meet them.