Idiots! Coming in hot!
I'm still in the "wait & see" camp w/ Manning, but to pretend that there were zero other coaches available is silly. I don't know "realistic" well, but here is a list of coaches that switched jobs that offseason:
Buzz Williams, Bruce Pearl, Kevin Keatts, Steve Wojciechowski - Agree that none of those qualify as "realistic" as Keatts was just on his way to UNCW that year and the others were either bad fits (Pearl) or not gonna happen (Williams & Wojo).
Here is the list of prominent coaches that were hired elsewhere the next year (eliminating Shaka because no way):
Rick Barnes, Ben Howland, Michael White, Will Wade, Chris Beard, Bobby Hurley
I guess my point is that there are ALWAYS good coaches out there and available... Steve Forbes (ETSU) is a great example of someone that will likely get hired to a better job after this year (or next). Nathan Davis (Bucknell) is also interesting, but perhaps still a step away from an ACC level job.
There are always candidates out there, and any AD that doesn't have a updated list in his pocket at all times is a joke.