I'll just reiterate what I said before, I would be happy with either Mario or Lane (or Stoops) . However, when I look at our offensive potential, I want to see what the offensive guru can do. Seeing how Justin Herbert is fairing in the NFL makes me wonder if Mario managed to get the most out of his potential. TVD is doing things no ACC QB has done in the last 15 years. And that time frame includes Winston, Sunshine, and Watson.
I'll put it this way, how did a corch like Ed O win a title? He caught lightning in a bottle with an elite QB and an elite OC. This may surprise you, but do you know what UMs defense ranked in 2019? #13 in total D, #23 scoring D. National champ LSU? #31 total D, #31 scoring D. By most metrics, Diaz's defense was statistically better than Arandas. However, on the flip side, LSU blew away every team in most offensive categories. Fact is, it's a lot easier to win big and win fast in cfb now with an elite offense. We got extraordinarily lucky with TVD, just like LSU got lucky with a 3rd string transfer from Ohio State. Remember, everyone assumed TVD would transfer after Garcia won the job next season (and we also never see TVD this season if King doesn't get hurt). If we hadn't seen TVD, we'd struggled on O all season like we did early on with King , and we needed to rebuild from the ground up on both sides of the ball , I wouldn't hesitate to bring Mario.
But now that I've seen the potential on O and the QB we have , I want to go all in with an offensive mind - someone like Freeze, Herman, or Kiffin. Obviously Freeze is out given the recruiting violations, coke and hookers. That leaves Herman and Kiffin. One of those two is openly lobbying for the job. That's why I'm ready to see the Lane Train.