YES on problems with Coulson outranking Maria -- she is the Deputy Director, not an EA as some make her out to be. I haven't read a lot of the comics, but even wikipedia says that much ...

(Oh, that reminds me, pet peeve: People who spell SHIELD "SHEILD". Ugh.)

Yes, I see that I made the Maria sees Clint as a carnie point too strongly -- my head canon has her react that way at first (as she does to all of Fury's unorthodox ideas), and come around slowly (as she does when she sees things work, like the Avengers). In "In the Service" (and echoed in others of my pre-movie stories) I have them start out essentially deeply unimpressed with each other, and gradually working towards mutual respect.