Hypen, I mostly agree.
I’ve said this a lot over the years, but I reckon people overestimate the effect a head coach has on a team. Clarkson’s team won when Clarkson was coaching great players. His team lost when he was coaching bad players. If you replaced Clarkson with a league-average coach in 2013 (say someone like Ken Hinkley), would the Hawks have still won the flag? I reckon they probably would have. Would they have won three in a row? I’d say probably not.
But if you’ve got a coach who has shown he can put a team over the top to win a flag, there would need to be a compelling reason to get rid of them. Having an assistant who has the characteristics of a good coach and is younger probably isn’t a good enough reason.
Anyway, sucked in Hawthorn. You’ve likely Buckleyed your team for the next decade, and Clarkson will probably Pagan the Blues for half a decade.
Edit: I had a a feeling I predicted this. As it turns out I said Clarkson would be
coaching elsewhere by 2020, so I was out by a year. .