Yeah, and it really doesn't help that we see so little of Ohtori and Hiyoshi. I actually theorize that Ohtori was very inward turned, himself, before he got to know Shishido (ShishiTori 4ever, but not the most common fanon version). I think it would be a great step forward for both him and Hyoutei if he took over. But, as you say, the Hyoutei system.

I'm always very ambivalent about Atobe's relationship with Sakaki. I mean, is it mentoring or adversarial or what? I can never quite make up my mind, though I fall a little on the side that Sakaki was one of the few people who understood Atobe and Atobe has a good deal of loyalty to him because of that.