I think Mularkey was an unknown quantity, even after the season ended- he coached 2 pretty bad teams, and had one winning season, one losing......we could move on because of the uncertainty, but it could prove costly.
Now, with and almost completely new staff, and new leadership, we really don't know what Mularkey is or isn't capable of at all.....putting a guy in a new environment could change things a lot.
I think this year will be more about evaluating the roster than the coach- unless it is determined that he has no leadership skills, whatsoever, I think he definitely will be back at least one season beyond the upcoming one. I just don't see our roster improving by leaps and bounds in one season- although fixing the lines could leave us in contention for a wildcard near the end of the season.
I'm much less concerned about Levy- he weeded out the problems on the team in the first go around, and I think he'll weed out anyone in the front office that isn't willing to put in the extra effort, and buy into his vision. He along with Modrak will find guys that want to win- not just talented guys- and in turn, that will help Mularkey- the best leader as a coach is the one that can partially delegate the leadership responsibilities to the leaders on the team.
I hope Mularkey is up to the task, and manages to stick around. I don't like everything about his coaching style, but there are positives, and he seems like a likable person.