Thinking out loud here...so maybe not my best take
His predecessors intentionally tried to sabotage the BYU athletic dept. And I'm fairly certain Whittingham was knowledgeable and supportive of this initiative as well.
Harland...all he is guilty of is acting like a child (he'll probably be reprimanded for it). Although both sides would expect greater self control, I can at least understand the ire.
But Chris Hill, the former president at the U and Whittingham - abandoned professionalism around 2010-11. And it was accidentally brought to light by none other than Hair Thompson. Weather intentionally or unintentionally they injected copious amounts of spite into this game - far beyond heat-of--moment temper tantrums.
Harland actually may still be a good guy who is going to get some bad press (deservedly so). I don't know enough about him to judge, but his "unprofessionalism" at least for now doesn't appear to be on the same level as his predecessors.