We should all know that, barring some aberration, we are in for a long climb back. We are SIGNIFICANTLY behind GA. We are losing ground to FL. Mehlen is a good coach, like it or not. Blame Currie for not reeling him in when he had a chance. Being agnostic, I think most recruits would see us as a “middle of the pack” SEC program. We just need to start by beating USCe and Mizzou in consecutive years. Ultimately we should be ecstatic with 7-5 next year. That is assuming we make a competent OC hire. Like most, if it’s not a “name coach” (e.g. Yurcich or Canada or Sark) then that will be more cause for concern. But let’s be honest, we all thought when we got Shoop the D was going to solid and for a myriad of reasons, that turned out to not be the case.
Can we be an elite program again? Yes. But its probably going to take baby steps:
- Make a bowl (any bowl)
- Beat 3 of 4 of the “rest of the SEC east” (Vandy, Mizzou, SC, KY) in consecutive years
- Beat either GA or Bama every 3 years
Only then can we say we are "back"