BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM

[SUFan44]

You can hear it now - they would pay that, if the guy's market value dictated it.

In this case at least it seems that Shafer might have had more budget to work with, but he wanted McD. I wonder if there is anyone Shafer would even want to hire as OC who would warrant a $400K salary here.

And that is the crux of the issue, and needs to be answered.

What was Shafer's salary when he was hired by Marrone? He was hired from the outside with no knowing pre-existing relationship with Marrone and it worked out great for the defensive side of the ball.

Is the hiring of McDonald because he had a pre-existing relationship and wanted to be comfortable with all of his hires? Or was it because of a lack of funds to support the hiring of a competent and proven OC?

I think some of the blame goes to Gross on this - there's a fine line between being an overbearing AD who influences the decisions of a head coach too much and being an AD who helps guide a first-time head coach and helps them succeed. First-time head coaches need support from their OC's and DC's. Especially for the opposite side of the ball that the first-time head coach is familiar with.

George McDonald couldn't have been a worse choice as offensive coordinator, despite his recruiting prowess.