I don't agree with this. The guy we thought was ancient then, is the current DC of the Dallas Cowboys. PP knows football, and knows defense. The real problem was they he brought along his buddies and didn't have an OC that could be effective in the modern college game.
But his players were decent and his teams largely competitive. Diaco got to a bowl with PP's players and proceeded to lose games with stupidity and recruit horribly. A solid coach following PP would have left us in decent shape.
No, he is not a coach with Dallas. A lot of guys know football and know defense, it does not make them a good HC hire, particularly for a school in the middle of conf realignment - only UConn would put a few HSFB coaches ahead of their own self-interests. Yes, he is a good coach and a better man - good guy, good family. And he let his affinity for a kid who hung out at his house and played with his kids but who was not a very good QB impact the success of the program. But all of those things aside, I think you missed the point - his hire was a huge signal to the ACC that we were not making the commitments that Ville was. His hire, not him, was the program killer. A solid hire after him would have us more competitive in the AAC - WFC! A solid hire after RE would likely have us playing in a P5 conference.