I prefer Quinn’s overpraise to Hiestand’s penchant for picking favorites and never letting certain guys out of his doghouse. I think most would agree our highest upside line this year consists of Eichenberg -> Bars -> Mustipher -> Kraemer -> Hainsey. There’s a good chance that that lineup never comes to fruition if HH were here due to his seeming disdain for Liam. That being said, if HH were here, there’s a good chance we have NPF on the roster so I guess you take the good with the bad.
This is absolute bullshit.
I actually kind of agree with LLAD. I think our recent OL coaches all get over- or under-rated depending on the performance of the year before.
We loved Warinner, then he got kind of mediocre results, and we thought he was mediocre. Then he gets hired by Urban at OSU and gets good results on the field and in the draft and we assume that it was Kelly's problem, sprinkled with Warinner wanting the OC title.
Then we get HH, who the Tenn fans wanted to burn at the stake. We thought he sucked, and then he had some good results--not so much in a dominant run game every year, but with the draft status and performance of Zach Martin and Ronnie Stanley. Then the reputation grew. 2015 started slow, but the finished strong. 2016 was under-performing, but was rightfully blamed on the defense. 2017 was great, on the backs of two more supreme talents.
But during HH's time I always thought, why would you commit here if you were a OG or a 3-star? Either they are going to slide some OT prospect inside over you, or you are going to get passed over for next year's 5-star, who will be plugged in as a red-shirt freshman. If you are an OG, or a 3-star, you better start learning to snap the football, because that its Center or nothing. The reports seem to confirm that the players felt the same way.
Long story short. HH was a tier 1 college coach, who got to coach great talent, and got it unquestionably ready for the NFL. The emphasis on technique fundamentals was send to none, and his emphasis on the unit seeing themselves as a brotherhood was also key. When the offense was structured around the run game, that part of his coaching prowess really became obvious too. However, HH also seemed to be a slightly hesitant recruiter who seemed to have limited time for his developmental guys who didn't immediately show NFL potential. No one is perfect, and coaches never excel at everything!
Quinn is clearly more of a people person. The recruiting and issues with kids getting left behind will improve under him, I have no doubt. I also think he is going to be a great coach. Will he be as effective preparing kids for the NFL. That remains to be seen. I tend to doubt it, but the talent will be there for high draft picks anyway.
