Dew, in his sixth season, was dumped with 18 months remaining on his contract in a unanimous board decision on Monday night.
That came just six days after chief executive Mark Evans' public backing of Dew and denial the club had reached out to Richmond's recently departed, three-time premiership winner Hardwick.
On Tuesday Evans and newly-installed chairman Bob East insisted they still hadn't contacted Hardwick, but that Dew was not the Suns' long-term solution.
"There is a clear gap between where we currently sit and where our expectations lie," East said.
"The senior coach selection process will be solely designed to close that gap.
"It's crystal clear to us that this decision was a necessary decision."
Gold Coast, who will finish the season with assistant Steven King in charge, appear destined for a 13th-straight campaign without a finals appearance.
They sit 7-9 after back-to-back humblings against top two sides Collingwood and Port Adelaide.
But club bosses said that fortnight did not cost Dew, pointing to this season's body of work that also featured an untimely flogging at the hands of Carlton after they entered the bye with a 6-6 record.
Evans said last week's vouch of support was made in an attempt to stabilise Dew's position following intense public speculation, but that the situation changed when the board met on Monday.
"I can't come out and say that once a decision has been made, and that happened last night," Evans said.
"This time last year we were better placed in terms of wins and particularly in percentage, so it feels like there is a gap between us and the rest of the competition."
The Suns remain just one win and percentage outside the top eight but, with a tough run home, still likely need six wins from seven rounds to earn a maiden finals berth.
"Once we've identified that Stuey wasn't going to be the ongoing coach for us, the best thing to do was to deal with it immediately," Evans said.
"We think we've got a great list .... some experts in our football department and we think that we'll need a new senior coach to actually go to the (desired) level."
Dew was appointed Gold Coast's third full-time coach in 2018, following Guy McKenna and Rodney Eade's stints with the club that entered the AFL in 2011.
Hardwick left his post in May but has indicated he's interested in a comeback, while Port coach Ken Hinkley remains off-contract beyond this season.
East said he'd wait for Evans to frame the "next steps" to replace Dew.
"No. I want to deal with this bit properly," Evans said when asked if he would now reach out to Hardwick.
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