Yeah, so, you don't get it.
Who said "optics?" Well, you did. Your words. Cause again, you don't get it. At all.
Try HS coaches, handlers, parents, school alumni, FOOTBALL alumni, optimist, 7 on 7, principals, guidance counselors, JANITORS, crap writers, TWEETERS, the nutty BOT, you name it. You need to win these people over to recruit here. And you have more resources from other schools attacking SFL than ever to combat. Did you know that UF and FSU each have more alumni in SFL than Miami does? You think any old coach just walks into this town and wins everyone over just because he can coach and says the right things? It's a snake pit out there, and you need a HC here who knows the territory, and is good in a knife fight, and has the support of the community.
So yeah... well, no. No one is settling. Some of us are just a little more thoughtful about what it takes to win here.
And outside of this, Mario is one of the very best recruiters in all of CFB, took FIU from 0-12 to conference champion, was AHC/RC/OL under Saban at Alabama, and got Oregon righted, won 12 games in one year, 10+ this year, won a Rose Bowl, and went to a Sugar, and had the #3 class in the country last cycle... in Oregon.
Clearly you are the one with the uninformed agenda. I guess you did your own research.