Can we hold out hope he'll send Banks on his way now that he's HC?
I don't really understand the Banks hate. Obviously Phair was a big part of the improvement this year, but Banks' D has gotten better every year, including last year, where they again were a large reason we got to a bowl game as they turned it on down the stretch (and didn't get lit up in the non-con while Wes and Cubit tried to get us to lose games until waking up in the 4th for every.freaking.noncon.game). He's improved, his players have improved, and I have no issues with him. The defense is not the reason we lost any game this year, and we only had two (really, one, because PSU was the worst combined ST/Offensive showing I'll see in a while) game where we gave up more than 30, were a top 10 D in S&P+, and really was the reason we won 5 instead of 2. I'd be fine keeping Banks, especially considering how hard it will be to try to hire coaches to replace guys who leave, we can't lose guys who are doing well.
Although, I guess top 10 D doesn't fulfill our dedication to being below-mediocre, so we should go hire Cubit's daughter for DC, or something like that.