i couldn't give 2 $H!ts about coaching abilities when stacked against recruiting abilities.
Where does Drew and Sutton fall in this conversation? Sys is restricted from commenting on Drew.
Here's my thoughts: things like "x's and o's" and "chemistry" are pretty much unknowns unless you're hiring a "slam dunk" coach. Things like recruiting relationships, recruiting plan, plan for hiring assistants, and quality of actual recruits landed (via things like RSCI), etc. are much easier to define and evaluate. If you can consistently get quality talent into the program, like Drew and Sutton are, you will leave the next coach in a better situation than someone who wants to "coach 'em up" and fails.
So, in reality, choosing recruiting over x's and o's is the truly the superior "long term" option.