The "nice guy" thing is a great observation. PP may be on auto coach-speak 100 percent of the time, but he treats the press a lot better than Randy did -- an RE flaw that was exposed in a bigger media market, but also turns the press' first instinct to protect PP.
More than that though, PP IMO is nowhere near as tough on the players as Randy was. RE was probably a little over the top, especially when he got to Maryland, but the pendulum has swung too far in the opposite direction. Moe Petrus said before the 2011 season that PP "treats us like men". Sadly, when you give 18-22 year olds an inch, they're going to take a mile. Not that UConn is
Miami 1990, but the sideline discipline/organization is definitely more lax under PP.
Hopefully the next coach will have "the edge" needed to succeed (see Calhoun, James etc etc)