most will. for a while. i know i will, and i am happy it seems that era is on it's way behind us.
but you can only go 7-5/8-4 for so long before it grows stale, and even people like me will start losing their minds again.
it's inevitable. but for now...it's all rainbows and unicorns. and that's enough. nobody sees us on the same plane with GA and Bama. we'll see how aTm's strategy works for them, but i'm not sold that methodology nets the same results GA and Bama are getting. feels more like Ole MIss under Freeze. we'll see.
i think it's fair to look around the landscape of the SEC and see GA and Bama, and look around the rest of the league and see a lot of similarities in the middle tier. so if we're competitive there, and win more than we lose, then it is what it is. i think in 22, the LSU and FL games will be big barometers for us. USCe game late will be bigger than most want to admit, right now anyway. and i think going to Pittsburgh will be a bit of a measuring stick. see us beat a team we lost to last year. that'd be good.
anyway....hopefully most don't have any misconceptions on where we are, and where we are is....we still have a ways to go in a lot areas....but it looks like we're going in the right direction finally.
I'm not as content or as patient as some, but I think breaking out of midpack will come down to the coaches-- their hunger to win, their aggressiveness in making the changes they need to win faster and their willingness to bring in new people and embrace new ideas to move beyond plateaus.
Mark Richt got UGA to consistent wins, division titles and conference championships. That was good for a while. Then UGA wanted more. They fired Richt and Kirby took them to the next level. He went about it a different way. UGA changed.
Phillip Fulmer won a NC at UT. He was hungry-- some say he was ruthless-- then he got complacent. He made some bad hires, had some bad losses, wasn't as committed, and the Fulmer way was no longer a winning way. Nobody since has duplicated his success. Have they been determined enough, skilled enough and focused enough? No. Did they surround themselves with the right people? No.
Pat Summitt won "the right way" at UT. Pat was hungry, she was driven, she worked exceptionally hard and recruited the best players she could get within her standards. She set her own goals and made her own luck. Holly couldn't duplicate Pat's way. She couldn't change, and she couldn't grow into a new role. I think Kellie can, if she's willing to make some changes.
Rick Barnes understands "the right way." But is he hungry enough, is he driven enough, is he willing to make the changes to get over the hump? What is he most motivated to do? Is he focused on hanging banners and willing to work within the current landscape to do it?
There are many ways to work within a system and rise above it-- even if the system itself has inherent flaws and needs to evolve. You win with people. Pat said it, and she was right. UT has implemented a foundation, defined a culture and is giving the marquee HCs the resources and infrastructure to build successful programs. It's up to the coaches to build with people and win with them. UT is a school that can win, though they haven't made it the easiest place to win at the highest level. I think some of our programs are closer than others-- and that opinion correlates to the HC.
