I think this is all an overreaction TBH. We were not going to be in the playoffs even if we ran the table. You need signature wins to move up in the polls. We were sitting at 16 after the FSU win. Beating UVA, BC, Duke, GT, VT and Pitt was never going to be enough to get us into the top 10. Unless we absolutely blew out Clemson we weren't playoff bound. And Clemson's strength is the defensive line and our OL is arguably our biggest weakness so we weren't likely to win that game anyway. So while it sucked to lose it isn't like we were going to win a national championship this year anyway.
I do not like the banner thing because it kills recruiting elite talent. It is something that satisfies a few fans egos but hurts the team. I am not into anything that hurts the team. If you are a true fan you really should think twice about it. Also, flying the banner did nothing to Al Golden, if anything, he doubled down on NoD and the administration doesn't really think the fans should decide who coaches. That is the head coaches job. And we know this administration is happy with more wins than losses and is not obsessed with winning a national championship every year. They want a clean program and a winning record because the ACC money comes from bowls.
When you fly banners, you just scare the best players away from coming here. JMO.