IIRC, What was rumored at the time was Key's reputation and word was instrumental in getting Long to accept our crappy job. Long was mostly seen as a good hire, given the situation. What established, proven, OC would want to step in to a staff that's on the hottest of hot seats?
Long might not have had the best resume. But it was better than the previous guy. And better than we should have expected. Heck, A lot of people had him pegged as the coach in waiting for when Collins got fired. Nobody* foresaw that the offense would be, arguably, worse this year under Long.
It seems like, as talk of Key as the permanent head coach has heated up, a narrative has developed that the OC hire was somehow Key's choice. And also, by some implication, that we had a whole lot of options of who to hire; not that we were limited by money and offering a warm seat on a smoldering dumpster fire. The second year/buyout was also related to getting him to take the job with the likelihood of being fired with the rest of the staff, not just because Key liked him so much.
I definitely think that questions about staff are important for ADJB to ask of any potential hire. If Key is a believer in Long and wants to keep him, then that's a forward looking issue. But criticizing Key looking backwards because Collins didn't hire a better OC doesn't seem reasonable.
(*There's always at least one smarta** though.)