[Goose]

Yeah I guess that's the $64 question.
Did AL take Pritchard because it was the best he could do, or did he take him because he thought he was a promising young coach who he knew, thought he could work well with, and thought he could succeed at Stanford.
I doubt if we will ever know.

IMO it was all of the above. There undoubtedly were good alternatives that took themselves off the table pretty quick. Of the remaining feasible choices, Pritchard was the best alternative in AL's opinion. All coaches have plusses and minuses. I do think the fact AL actually knew Pritchard very well was a big factor. The vast majority of the other alternatives were people AL was not all that familiar with. That increases the probability of a misfit hire that can't work out no matter how good a "football guy" the coach was. Pritchard in AL's mind undoubtedly has a higher floor for that reason. AL can't afford a disaster at this point.

[Goose]

Yeah I guess that's the $64 question.
Did AL take Pritchard because it was the best he could do, or did he take him because he thought he was a promising young coach who he knew, thought he could work well with, and thought he could succeed at Stanford.
I doubt if we will ever know.

IMO it was all of the above. There undoubtedly were good alternatives that took themselves off the table pretty quick. Of the remaining feasible choices, Pritchard was the best alternative in AL's opinion. All coaches have plusses and minuses. I do think the fact AL actually knew Pritchard very well was a big factor. The vast majority of the other alternatives were people AL was not all that familiar with. That increases the probability of a misfit hire that can't work out no matter how good a "football guy" the coach was. Pritchard in AL's mind undoubtedly has a higher floor for that reason. AL can't afford a disaster at this point.