I haven’t read much about this other than most people don’t like coach hiring. I don’t mind it too much, and it’s better than it used to be.
The problem I see is that in worlds with savvy owners, there are too many good coaches without jobs and too many crummy coaches in the minor leagues. I know that in the engine, the coaches seeking jobs at the big-league level will drop their demands to AAA only during the last cycle. And I believe that only happens if all the big league jobs are filled in that area. Good owners recognize this. And those owners who are not looking for the top of the heap in the big leagues can always wait until the last cycle to land their big-league coaches, promote a minor league coach above his demands, or hire a big-league coach from the pool above their demands in order to save money (all reasonable strategies). Since this leaves open big-league jobs at the last cycle, good coaches never drop their demands. This is also good strategy to help prevent fellow owners from getting solid coaches for their minor league staffs if they are waiting for demands to drop. It’s also a way of “gaming the system” by preventing market competition, a concept that most of this game is built on.
I would suggest that coaches start to explore the idea of signing lower level contracts earlier, especially if the money is competitive and the openings at the higher levels are shrinking. This would much more approximate a real competitive market situation.