I also generally liked Whaley and was curious to see if his seeming inability to implement a plan came from the fact that he was never working with a coach of his choosing and was in constant retooling mode to fit the scheme changes, which was what I postulated, or if it was a lack of vision. McDermott is now getting the chance that Whaley never did, a unified coaching staff and GM.
That being said, I'm optimistic. As OTAFLG says, these are young gun FOOTBALL people, and their hire has been widely lauded throughout the league. I'm expecting a Jason Garrett-like timeline for improvement, though, so I hope TP gives McBeane the time to succeed and doesn't continue the recently established 2 year hook trend. I suspect, given that he now appears to be looking for a "type" that he is comfortable working with based on the common attributes of McD, Beane, and Botterill, that he'll be more patient if his teams are perceived as less of a clownshow.