Several thoughts on this.
There are some parallels and some differences between the end of Eli's tenure and the end of John Forney's.
Without question, Forney was pushed out by Ray Perkins. Previous posters have noted other of Perkins' moves. I seriously doubt DeBoer had anything to do with Eli's departure.
Eli was the voice of Alabama football during the Stallings and Saban glory years. Forney was the voice of Alabama football during the Bryant heydays. Both unquestionably loved University of Alabama athletics. If you couldn't watch the game on TV or in person, both were maddening to listen to.
In Forney's day, not many games were televised. In Gold's tenure, almost all of them were. Neither was worth anything in keeping a listener up to date on down, distance and clock.
Due to so little TV, it was a greater flaw for Forney. Gold got bailed out by people watching on TV and listening to him for the play-by-play....announcing the details wasn't as important. The last time I had to listen to Eli calling a game with no visual accompaniment was vs. South Carolina in Columbia in 2019. Long story short, I had to listen while driving. I was yelling at the radio and about to pull my hair out trying to follow.
My parents used to tell similar stories about listening to games broadcast by Forney. Even before his illness, there was significant dissatisfaction with Eli expressed on this board.
So with all the nostalgia for Eli, I'm reminded of an old joke: How many Alabama fans does it take to change a burned-out light bulb? Four. One to change the burned-out bulb, and three to stand around and talk about how good the old one was.
When I was active in the Alumni Association, I dealt with Eli several times. He has an opinion of himself that is common amongst a lot of performers and basks in the reflected glow of the success of the program during much of his tenure. As if he had a hand in the on-field success of the team.
Then Eli got sick, and it was tough. Chris Stewart made it quite clear that he was, "just keeping the seat warm," (a phrase he used repeatedly) awaiting Eli's return. That struck me as a bow to Eli's ego.
Some here may remember that Stewart replaced Eli as the voice of Alabama basketball. Through no fault of Stewart's, the decision wasn't handled well. Still, I have no doubt Eli never fully got over that, and Stewart was trying to head off an awkward situation.
After Eli came back from his illness, it was painfully obvious that he wasn't his old self. For all of us, there comes a time when we need to hang it up, whether we want to or not.
Eli clearly doesn't feel that time has yet come for him. Which, in combination with the ego, I think led him to air the laundry publicly. Which is what I think is the real bad look.
As to who made the decision, I don't know. It would not have been made lightly. If I had to guess, Learfield / Crimson Tide Sports Network almost certainly ran it by Greg Byrne. It's also possible that Byrne was the one approaching CTSN. Regardless, Dr. Bell would have been aware, and there may have even been an informal briefing to the Board of Trustees. Those guys hate being blind-sided on something that public. The nightmare would be Byrne or Bell or a member of the BoT not knowing and being asked a question by a reporter. One way or another, they just had to know.
Yes, it's sad. Yes, it was time.
Late Add: Regarding having earned the right to call one's own exit: Compare Bobby Bowden's exit -- stayed in the chair way too long, and FSU finally had to nudge him out -- vs. Nick Saban's. Saban stayed until he either couldn't or no longer wanted to perform to his own championship standards. Then he made a graceful exit.
Bowden and Saban both earned the right to make their own call. Bowden made the wrong one. Saban made the right one.
I agree that Eli had earned the right to call his own exit. But with that right comes the responsibility to know when the time has come. Eli didn't do that. Then he publicly aired a decision he didn't like, clearly aiming to stir public emotion to his side.