[socalstanfan1]

While experience certainly has its advantages, hiring graduate assistants is not always a bad way to go.  Someone feel free to correct me, but I seem to recall that a lot of the Pete Carroll staff during the years when USC was dominant were coaches who were promoted internally from positions as graduate assistants: Kiffen, Sarkisian, Holt, all went this route. 

Now, it's true, not all of these guys have panned out when reaching the higher levels of coaching.  Kiffen has imploded as a head coach; Holt as the DC at Washington was awful; Sarkisian, on the other hand, has done a very solid job of rebuilding the Washington program, though in my opinion his teams have underperformed a bit, in relation to expectations.  But, when these coaches were on Carroll's staff, their program was dominant.

Maybe the key thing Shaw is looking for is continuity, and maintaining the culture that he wants to develop for the program: smart, intense, tough players who know the system, and know how to play their part in the system.

[socalstanfan1]

While experience certainly has its advantages, hiring graduate assistants is not always a bad way to go.  Someone feel free to correct me, but I seem to recall that a lot of the Pete Carroll staff during the years when USC was dominant were coaches who were promoted internally from positions as graduate assistants: Kiffen, Sarkisian, Holt, all went this route. 

Now, it's true, not all of these guys have panned out when reaching the higher levels of coaching.  Kiffen has imploded as a head coach; Holt as the DC at Washington was awful; Sarkisian, on the other hand, has done a very solid job of rebuilding the Washington program, though in my opinion his teams have underperformed a bit, in relation to expectations.  But, when these coaches were on Carroll's staff, their program was dominant.

Maybe the key thing Shaw is looking for is continuity, and maintaining the culture that he wants to develop for the program: smart, intense, tough players who know the system, and know how to play their part in the system.

[jayasena]

While experience certainly has its advantages, hiring graduate assistants is not always a bad way to go.  Someone feel free to correct me, but I seem to recall that a lot of the Pete Carroll staff during the years when Under Stanford Control was dominant were coaches who were promoted internally from positions as graduate assistants: Kiffen, Sarkisian, Holt, all went this route. 

Yes, Carroll did promote internally quite a bit (a practice some attributed to not wanting to share the spotlight with experienced assistants, especially after Norm Chow's departure). Personally, I think the results from those internal promotions are questionable. USC had a brobdingnagian talent edge over the rest of the conference during Carroll's time there, which helped them win a lot of games. Despite that, I don't think player development was at the same high level as it was with the original, more experienced coaching staff. Sure, it was a relatively small drop from an incredibly high standard but, still, I think it was noticeable and was the difference between NCGs and Rose Bowls.

[jayasena]

While experience certainly has its advantages, hiring graduate assistants is not always a bad way to go.  Someone feel free to correct me, but I seem to recall that a lot of the Pete Carroll staff during the years when Under Stanford Control was dominant were coaches who were promoted internally from positions as graduate assistants: Kiffen, Sarkisian, Holt, all went this route. 

Yes, Carroll did promote internally quite a bit (a practice some attributed to not wanting to share the spotlight with experienced assistants, especially after Norm Chow's departure). Personally, I think the results from those internal promotions are questionable. USC had a brobdingnagian talent edge over the rest of the conference during Carroll's time there, which helped them win a lot of games. Despite that, I don't think player development was at the same high level as it was with the original, more experienced coaching staff. Sure, it was a relatively small drop from an incredibly high standard but, still, I think it was noticeable and was the difference between NCGs and Rose Bowls.