[Papa John]

I see your point, but in the imaginary world of the poll, those voters would have required Shaw to make significant changes, which he obviously hasn't (in reality)

I guess I expected that the requirement would have been communicated explicitly to Shaw, rather than a quiet, unspoken expectation.

I read that "require" like "demand", rather than "observe whether".  I think the "if he refuses" part, supports my interpretation.

The imaginary world of the poll would have required the Athletic Director to pose the ultimatum, which we can surmise hasn't occurred.

In the imaginary world of the poll, the voters were assigned the imaginary role of the Athletic Director so the ultimatum was imaginarily posed, so those voters have imaginarily fired Shaw.

[Papa John]

I see your point, but in the imaginary world of the poll, those voters would have required Shaw to make significant changes, which he obviously hasn't (in reality)

I guess I expected that the requirement would have been communicated explicitly to Shaw, rather than a quiet, unspoken expectation.

I read that "require" like "demand", rather than "observe whether".  I think the "if he refuses" part, supports my interpretation.

The imaginary world of the poll would have required the Athletic Director to pose the ultimatum, which we can surmise hasn't occurred.

In the imaginary world of the poll, the voters were assigned the imaginary role of the Athletic Director so the ultimatum was imaginarily posed, so those voters have imaginarily fired Shaw.