Agree this is what we need but I won't be surprised if we go 3-9 and the offense looks like keystone cops with penalties, turnovers and blown plays. Fully expecting to be here a year from now reading a board full of posts about how CJH has to get his guys and fully root out bad culture of prior regime. That would follow the pattern of discussion on our last few hires.
LOL ain't that the truth! You can always predict the pattern of discussion on here from game to game each season as well.
Games 1 & 2: In most years, we play lesser opponents and we win these games but don't look particularly great in doing so. The chatter on here typically amounts to "Well we were playing conservative and we didn't want to put much on film for Florida to study. We're saving our playbook for them."
Game 3: Usually this is the Florida game and usually we lose. Followed by disappointment, followed by questions about our QB, followed by questions about why our coach started that particular QB. Followed by "well we have a lot of football to play and can still have a good season."
Game 4: We usually play another lesser opponent in this slot and look pretty good, which gives everyone a false sense of security and a skewed view on how good we actually are. At this point we're thinking we could "make some noise" in the SEC and have a pretty good year.
Games 5-9: So this is usually the meat of our SEC schedule, playing Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, our rotating west opponent, and either KY or Mizzou. This typically is the "nut cutting" portion of our schedule where we really know who we are and...it's usually a disappointment. Lately we come out of this stretch at either 2-3 or 1-4 and this is when we start questioning our coaching staff and wondering if the coach needs to fire the O-coordinator or D-coordinator. Usually we are also screaming for a QB change, regardless of whether the back ups are actually better or not. By now our record is right around 4-6 or 5-5 and talking about how vital it is to win 1 or two more games to get to a minor bowl for extra practices for the team and look better to recruits. After all, we are always "building for the future" and "we have to be patient." This is also the point in the season where recruits start peeling off and we start sliding in the rankings.
Game 10: Typically this is another lesser opponent. I've seen this one go both ways. We either blow them out completely or we come in looking flat and barely scrape out a win. Either way, we're still feeling about the same towards the team from the previous week. Good to get the win but no indicator whatsoever about the team.
Games 11 & 12: In years past these were KY and Vanderbilt, though it's also been Mizzou and Vanderbilt. Here lately it's rare that we get 2 wins from this stretch. Typically we split it 1-1 but we've also gone 0-2 and wound up 5-7 and missing yet another bowl appearance. By this time we are talking about how the coach "is not the guy" and our administration should just go ahead, pull the trigger, and fire him so we can move on.
So to sum it all up. Most seasons start out with hopes of winning the east and ends in wanting a coaching search.