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Don't know if he himself is the solution as I don't know much about him, but going this route is probably the only way to compete with the Alabama/Ohio State/Clemson's of the college football world. And let's be honest, outside of them, we are already competitive. We're currently in that group with Oklahoma and Georgia of the best of the not top 3. To take the next step we need better recruiting. When we are truly on par with talent, we may find we need to do better with coaching, but it's tough to say until you have athletes on par with the best. Not a big fan of Bama's having former head coaches rehabilitating as analysts, but but maybe we need to did into that pool as well or do something similar. More and higher quality voices in the coaching room is always a benefit, the same as it is with better depth of players. It steps up everyones game and gives you options when someone leaves.

Still not convinced that Quinn is all that as an OL coach, but it's an example on a lower level of having an accomplished former head coach on staff as an analyst who can be quickly plugged in as a coach with little loss of continuity. It's always a blow when a player or coach seizes an opportunity for advancement elsewhere, but it's also a good sign that you are doing things right and have excess talent. The plus side to the Tommy Rees scenario is that you might have an ND lifer if he works out, but lifer's at a given school aren't as common as they used to be.