Optimism that is not grounded in reality just leads to unrealistic expectations, which is one thing DD and company don't need right now. Best case scenario is that this is going to take a few years to turn around, and people are going to need to keep an even keel throughout that time period because there will likely be some ups and downs.
People are saying there is a need to withold any judgement until after next week, but even that is far too soon. Coming cross country is tough for any team. Even if Tennessee beats Oregon there is a good chance there still won't be many wins coming in the SEC this year, especially if we suffer some injuries at critical positions.
It would be in everyone's best interest to just wait to the end of the year and evaluate the situation then. Did the team improve over the course of the 3 month season? Were they consistently prepared each week? Did they give maximum effort each week and never quit, regardless of how bad things looked on the scoreboard. These are the things I will judge this season based on, not so much the W-L record.
We are young, thin and out-talented at many positions, so super high expecations for this year are unfair to DD and his staff. I still say we're going to be looking at a 4-8 season, maybe 5-7 if we can pull off an upset. If people see that as negative, so be it.