As a rather tall passenger, I can understand both sides of this. I know when I'm in a standard coach seat on CO, the passenger in front of me probably won't be able to recline even if he/she tries, because my knees simply prevent it from happening. There's no place for them to go except right into the back of the seat in front of me. There's not a position I can sit in where my legs stretch out under the seat in front of me. So it's quite uncomfortable for both me and the passenger in front of me.

Fortunately I almost never miss an upgrade or an exit row seat, so 99% of the time it's not an issue. But I do make flight purchase decisions based on availability of upgrades and exit row seats, and have been known to go so far as to stay an extra night in a location and fly home the next morning if it meant a better seat was available. I do wish CO would do something about the seat pitch, because even 32" pitch would make a difference for me.