I’m guessing this might get brought up when Lovie gets the axe. Maybe not outright “He hired his son, who we now know is extremely unqualified, thus we can see it was a nepotism hire” but instead “He made high risk hires that were found to be in over their heads and it cost him his job.”
I’d lump our new OL coach, LB coach, and DB coach all into that category.
Oh wait...who struggled again yesterday?
Hoppy, you're spot on. Looking at Lovie's staff, there's just too many that you can't have and be successful at this level. There are a few that are decent. Rod Smith isn't bad, but Alabama and Clemson aren't exactly breaking down the door to get him. He's above P5 average, but he isn't a great recruiter and he's not a wonder worker as OC.
Bellamy is still an open question. RB play has been about as well coached as it can be, but he has yet to bring in that "feature back" he needs to recruit to keep a top running game, and his Chicago metro recruiting isn't very impressive so far.
Hayes-Stoker for WRs has been one of our best recruiters and now that he has some talent on the field, I think he's shown that he can coach 'em up with his rapid development of the transfers. Definitely a keeper.
Corey Patterson has certainly been a pleasant surprise as both a position coach and recruiter. We'd have ridiculously poor recruiting without him and Hayes-Stoker. I've been VERY impressed with his development of Barker at TE. I don't know if we had better TE development and performance in over a decade. Add in Ford next year, and that may be our top position.
McClain for the OL is starting to look like a real bust. He got shut out on ALL the best Illinois OL recruits and took .much lower rated OL from out of state. If he was a great OL coach, it may have been worth it to hire him, but from what we've seen so far what was supposed to be our top unit has been a disaster since he took over. Unless he OL play improves DRAMATICALLY this year, I don't see how we can invite him back for next year if we're serious about winning.
Ligashefsky seems to be a pretty good ST coach when he has some talent, but he's completely dead weight as a recruiter. You may be able to afford one of those on your staff, but we have FIVE!
Clark is performing like a coach who's never been a P5 position coach before, and it shows. Other than Betiku, his line with above average talent is playing WAY below potential, and he doesn't seem to know what to do about it. Having a top DL coach is essential for rebuilding programs, someone who's done it before. Lovie just doesn't get it. His recruiting is still suspect. He lost ESL DT Billingsly, the DT from North Chicago, and about four top DEs from Illinois that would upgrade our talent. He's only got a "project" 260# DT from Florida. If he gets DT Denver from Aurora, DE Joe Moore from Missouri and perhaps that hyphenated guy from Texas, he can redeem himself in recruiting, but unless he gets a LOT more from Carney, Milan, Oladipo, Avery, Woods, Ayo, Gay and Pate, we may need to upgrade there...
I really don't see how we can keep Byrd, our safeties and Passing game defense coordinator. Safety play is awful and confused, technique is bad and there's far too much "Bambi in the headlights" look from them. Even mediocre passing teams are ripping us apart. His recruiting is even worse. He brought in NO ONE last year, and he isn't in on any top safeties this year either. He's had two years now, and if he can't deliver on the recruiting trail or on the field this year, clearly it's time for a change.
Keynodo Hudson? Cornerback play hasn't impressed, and he isn't close to any quality CBs for 2020. Maybe he gets another year, but right now it looks like a failed hire.
Miles Smith? Need I say anything about this nepotism hire?
Bottom line here is that Lovie just isn't capable of being a successful college coach. His plan for rebuilding was a joke in the coaching community, as well as his staff hiring. His lack of discipline and the mental mistakes by his team clearly shows he can't deal with those things he didn't need to stress in the pros, but is essential in CFB.
Lovie and CFB is just a poor match, as soon as both he and JW figure that out, the better chance of revival becomes.