I don't doubt Clarkson is a good coach, but at some point it becomes self-purpetuating. A Hawthorn assistant coaching job is a plum gig, so Hawthorn gets the pick the ex-players and young assistants most likely to become great coaches. Those new coaches come with fresh ideas which improves Hawthorn's on-field performance, which in turn makes Clarkson look even better. When a head coaching job comes up, having worked for Hawthorn and Clarkson looks good on a CV, so they are more likely to get a head coaching job. The cycle repeats a few times.
But even though it is self-perpetuating for a while, talent on the field isn't. Hawthorn will slide into mediocrity over the next few years, and the next batch of assistant coaches might think about Collingwood or Richmond instead. At some point Kennett's ego will intervene, and Clarkson will be coaching at another club. It will be interesting to see how he goes where he doesn't inherit a team with Buddy, Rioli, Roughy, Hodge and Mitchell in it.
As for Freo, I'm not sure where we are picking on the list of assistant coaches, but it's close to last on the list. Replace Lyon with a league-average coach, and I'm not sure that changes much. Would ex-players move to Perth to coach under, I don't know, Brad Scott? I don't think it changes the dynamic much. We are still the least successful club at the arse-end of the football world.