This whole question makes no sense. It didn't take Kelly 6 years. Oregon was immediately successful when he took over. He was OV for the two years prior under Bellotti. He played in a BCS game each of his four years as HC. Oregon had been focused on building their football team for a long time. I guess a healthy athletic dept. makes a difference.
Exactly. Oregon has been very lucky. We're the winningest team in the Pac since 1993, by something like 15 games. When Kelly took over, Oregon was already a healthy program that had 15 years of consistent winning.
When Kelly took over, Oregon, in that decade, already had a program that won 9 games a year, had a BCS bowl win, victories over Michigan, Oklahoma, and Texas, and a 2007 team that looked poised to run to the national title and produce a Heisman winner in Dennis Dixon until half our team went down with injuries. All over our hires happened internally, our coaching staff has largely remained intact for at 10-20 years for some of them, and we only had one bad hire: Gary Ludwig as offensive coordinator. Even with the worst highs we made in 20 years, Oregon STILL has only experienced 1 losing season in 20 years b
Because Oregon was so bad in the 50s and 60s, we had the luxury of a patient building process that started with Rich Brooks in the late 70s. Problem is, Tennessee is more like the Yankees, Lakers, Cowboys, and Red Wings. Two seasons of struggling and it's "Next!!"
For you to get back on top - which can be achieved easily with the right coach and philosophy - you'll all have to bite the bullet and be patient. You simply can't turn a program with Tennessee's issues around in a year or two. It has to be a sustained approach and full belief in a new system. Your biggest issue is that the entire Lane Kiffen recruiting class is gone save 1 player. That's a death knell for a program. You have to put in a couple stellar recruiting cycles to replace that kind of upheaval, which CBJ looks like he's doing.
I know this sucks for you guys. As a Dodger fan, I've had to go through 20 years of **** despite being a traditional, powerhouse team. Breath deeply, know that each loss is building towards something better, each win is proof that it's happening, and remember this time proudly when Butch has you guys beating Bama and playing in the Orange bowl 4 years from now.
Look at Ole Miss. They're not even a traditionally powerful team, and all it took for them to get back into the discussion and have a future to look forward to was having one huge recruiting class. Looks like you guys might have that this recruiting cycle.
I noticed a lot of you here blaming freshman DBs and such for the poor performance. If you recruit well, youth Gould never be an excuse to lose - at least not when losing big that's purely taken. Recruit the right talent, and the freshman you put on the field should be able to shine under the right coaching and system. Look at us last Saturday. Our tight end - likely the best in the country, a first round draft pick, and an all-American candidate - missed the game because of the flu. You'd think that Oregon fans would have panicked and that we'd see a drop off in prosecution. Wrong. It's "Next man up," and a true freshman stepped in to catches 5 balls for 120-something yards and 2 scores in his first game ever. Youth means nothing. He was a beast in high school, and he was coached to perfection. Lock up this recruiting class you guys have, coach them up, and you'll be able to throw freshman and sophomores on the field without a flinch from the fans in the stand.
Patience. You have to have now more than ever. And you'll be back before you know it.
