my case for EB
The assistant head coach title is a title. It may mean he's highly involved and counted on heavily by the OC and HC to help with schemes, game plans, etc. It might mean they wanted to keep him around for his passion and gave him a raise and a title. It really doesn't tell us much about his football IQ. That will remain a concern. It DOES seem a lot of coaches have stood up for him as a "up-and-comer".
I will say that I can live with EB, just acknowledge it is a riskier hire than some, but also has a higher ceiling than perhaps any.
Let's not go into this with blind faith like we did last time. You try to improve the process each time and last time a few things were overlooked. A key point I think we overlooked was how much of Boise State's success was due to Dan Hawkins' genius? I know I saw some red flags but I really didn't want to fully explore the negatives. Was Dan a Defensive or Offensive guru? No. Did Dan bring BSU from nowhere to BCS buster? no. Did the assistant coaches Dan would bring key BSU's success? Nope.
Does that mean CU shouldn't "try the rising HC from a mid-major" route again as a few high-level donors have told me? I think thats idiotic. Try to look a little deeper than that. Don't tell me Dan Hawkins is Jim Harbaugh.
So whether you are evaluating Cabral, EB or Calhoun (or whoever), be critical. Ask hard questions. I have heard that at least one key individual on the search committee appears to be extremely thorough in such analysis. Bohn, Neinas, and most of us fans weren't last time. I'm certainly guilt of wearing rose-colored glasses.
In the end, there will always be some level of "trusting your gut" on a hire. It seems all the candidates have some risk and some upside.
For EB, it will remain to be seen how astute he is at surrounding himself with good football coaches, and how they collectively can evaluate talent and develop talent. Can EB be an effective CEO? Heck, Les Miles is an ex-OC, and LSU has one of the worst offenses in the SEC. Not sure Les has done a good job of hiring OC's.
Recruiting skills tend to help for about 2 years and then the public perception of the program's direction takes over quickly. See UW and UCLA. If a guy like Calhoun or Hoke show they can win now with Hawk's guys, the recruits will start lining up. Also, assistant coaches go a long way in getting players to commit. Bottom line is guys want to win and go on to the NFL. Not a whole lot else matters.
Calhoun and Hoke look like guys who'd make CU a better team and keep it improving. Not sure they would stay at CU after the turnaround. Hoke could be Michigan bound and Calhoun NFL bound (although that's a risk for any hire I suppose).
I sort of figure EB takes CU to 1990 prominence and signs a lifetime contract, or he fails miserably, while stockpiling some top level talent in the first few years. At the end of the day, I'd be ok going that route - but I acknowledge some big time risks.