I'm thinking people think they know that a term only and exclusively means what they take it to mean and aren't open to any subtlety in language.
"Hot Seat" doesn't necessarily mean someone is expected to be fired.. although the way commentators use it, you'd think that it only means that.
It means that he's going to start feeling more, new and different pressures to succeed. It means that, maybe, he'll start being pressed a little more when he says "I didn't put the guys in a position to succeed".. like, maybe a follow up of "Then why do you keep doing the same things?"
From Merriam Webster
hot seat
noun
Definition of hot seat
1slang
: ELECTRIC CHAIR
2
: a position of uneasiness, embarrassment, or anxiety