Some of the hires weren't bad. Golden and Richt werent bad hires but both didnt feel enough internal pressure to put the school first over hiring friends/family.
Golden owes the fact that he hasnt had another HC gig to his boy D'onofrio. Richt put Richt Jr in a position he wasnt ready for and thought his plays from the 80s were ok today. At some P5 school, both these guys wouldnt have felt as comfortable keeping guys like that around. I think if either way was half as ruthless to asst's as Saban is, they'd probably still be HCs.
Coker, Shannon, and even Butch, we a result of a school investing nickels and expecting dollars in return. UM hit it big finding coaches like Jimmy and we've been trying to strike oil ever since. When Diaz is done, I hope the BOT, Admin, AD, etc understand how much harder it is today to just find the next Urban Meyer. It's easier, and more fruitful, to just pay a proven HC and give him a budget so his asst's that doesnt force him to hire unproven guys.
This is why I think Mario, with quality asst's, is a homerun hire here. Hes a guy who will sell the program and recruit his *** off. What real, legit, OC/DC wouldn't want a coach that gets them all the groceries they need to cook?