People who haven't watched this team game after game don't understand. They look at the records and think "two losing seasons in almost 20 years". They see all the 8-4 and 9-3 seasons, and they thin that's pretty good.
What they can't see by looking at the record is the steady decline in performance. It's not just the record, not just wins and losses. It's more.
It's how we used to beat a UAB or Northern Illinois 52-3. Now we might win 35-17, if we're lucky, with a late score that makes it look worse than it was.
It's all the wins we've eked out by the skin of our teeth against KY, Vandy, and S. Carolina still look like wins. Which they are, but it's just one of many signs that we're just not what we once were.
It's how other programs get difference making freshmen on the field, while ours just can't quite understand our blocking scheme (even though opposing defenses seem to have a firm grasp)
It's the lackluster, embarrassing blowout losses in mid-tier bowls to mid-tier teams.
It's all of that combined, and it's been getting steadily worse for several seasons. Those are the things an outsider like Verne can't understand.