Well.....Mickey Joseph was lame duck by your example and he's a damn good hire.I am not saying the final decision happens through an informal interview as it is important to make sure the chemistry is there, but much of the legwork can be done quickly through informal interviews.
At this point I am not sure why the 4 asssistants were fired before the season was over as it does not appear to have greatly accelerated the process to find replacements to help with recruiting. Now if Frost makes a slam dunk hire it will all be worth the wait, but if we end up with Harrell who has really been a lame duck since Helton was fired, it will not make sense to me.
If Harrell does become the new OC, there are many things he brings to the table that are upgraded. We are not completely changing scheme, so that's not a concern. I think Harrell would eba better recruiter than Walters, Lubick or Verduzco
And perhaps someone like Harrell would be better at quarterback development than Verduzco ended up being for us?