First of all, I'm bummed because for years Spath led us to believe that Mike Babcock would succeed Red. And where are either of them now?
One thing about Danton Cole, the Mike Eaves experience suggests that when you move from the USNTDP to a college job, you can get a recruiting bump for 3-4 years (because you are already wired into elite 15-18 year olds and their programs). Of course you have to sustain it.
Blaishill, I would be worried that U-M would just be a temp job till the next good NHL offer came along.
Michigan can probably outbid any Division 1 school except NoDak, if it wants to. We could hire Jim Montgomery if we wanted to spend the money to lure him from Denver. Or Scott Sandelin from Duluth.
BUT I would be completely happy with Bill Muckalt. Specifically, someone who (1) has strong U of M roots and will be loyal to Michigan, (2) has worked at both the NCAA D-1 level and the USHL-NAHL level, and (3) is in his late 30's early 40's and could be our coach for the next 20 years.