Remember a guy named Bobby Bowden - he won a LOT of games too, until he didn't....nothing stays the same. You are either getting better or you are getting worse. The fact that we are getting worse is an established pattern and the worst kept secret in college football. This is not about not supporting them or loving my Tigers, it is a simply fact and its not as simple as MONEY - it is about how you spend it and who you spend it on.
Kids want to WIN and they want the best coaches that will get them there and we have to provide that if we are going to be competitive again. And by the way, that does not mean going undefeated year in and year out - those days are gone with NIL and the Portal! However, you can be competitive with a couple of losses, playing for conference championships and such and hiring good coaches. Along with recruits departing don't think our best coaches who have opportunities to move into these situations won't continue to do so too!
I think recruits can live with a team losing but what they can't live with is the notion that nothing is being done about it. We need to change that now! I don't like mid-season changes but if we don't beat Duke then a statement needs to be made that we will not accept this level of play and are actually willing to do something about it! I'm not sure "Best WAS the standard" is that great of a motto!