@OrangeBowlMagic your frustration is understandable But fan boards all over are wild and full of unreal expectations and people who don't know or really understand the game. And you are right a lot of folks are still trying to hold the U to the standard of the bygone days of greatness.
But in some ways the U has gone completely backwards, starting w/ Shalala and her undercutting of the program. And you have to admit the coaches that have been hired the last 20 years have been incompetent and a bit over their heads. And when you think "Jimmy's and Joe's" our "Jimmy's and Joe's" have been for the most part quantitatively better than the ACC's which we out recruit practically every year w the exception of FSU and Clemson.
So its not unrealistic to expect the U to beat these teams and at least win 9 games out of 12 per year.
But we have had year end and year out a level of incompetence for which there is no excuse. Coaches hiring their son to be a qb coach w no experience, a d coordinator that doesn't fit the players( Golden) a defensive scheme that involves too much gambling (Diaz) And most of the fan base can see that these things are problems.
And most teams at the very least are disciplined and understand the basic concepts of football and can execute the fundamentals. Our team year after year comes out undisciplined. Every year we get silly illegal procedure penalties, offsides in crucial situations, personal fouls, targeting, dumb holding away from the play etc. that you see with other teams on occasion, but the U players always seem to be doing it, it has become almost a hallmark of U football. And not one coach has put their foot down and threatened to sit folks or pull scholarships. Al Golden and Shannon put players off the team for off the field stuff but none of them threatened the locker room.
Players make dumb decisions consistently that screams a lack of understanding of the game and situational football. And the inability to catch the football or tackle or take proper angles is one thing, but the coaching staff continuing to accept it is just another. And most teams improve from the first game to the last game, but the U teams seem to more often digress by years end (just look at the facts), which suggests an inability to teach, or consistently get the players attention. You simply cannot ignore the fact that many players do not reach their full potential here, in fact you see some of those folks in the pros doing fairly well (Gus the bus and Sam Shields come to mind)
Game prep is consistently not there from one coaching regime to another. This year the players even commented on it after the Clemson game. And it was there in the NC game and it demoralizes the players. And none of the coaches even had the ability to just motivate the players. Some coaches aren't great X and O guys, but they win cause they are ready to run through a wall for the coach. Players sometimes give up/quit because they are being let down by the folks who are supposed to know what they are doing. And the list goes on and on.
Nobody is looking for perfection and championships every year (well not the fans with real sense) because we can't compete with Bama, Georgia, Ohio State, Clemson for talent cause we don't have the infrastructure or the money, however we could pull a few more recruits if we just win the games we should and at least not embarrass ourselves. But its not unfair or unrealistic (considering we do out recruit most of the ACC) to win the Coastal and compete for the ACC championship most years. Nine/ten win seasons is simply not unreasonable, but yes it is if we continue to maintain this level of incompetence at the top. And yes the ref's seem to go out of their way to penalize us but a good coach has got to say to the players its us against the damned world and get them to play like it.
And its not unfair or unrealistic to expect the football staff to at least be competent enough to just do their job and take care of the basics rather than collect fat checks and stare at the field like a deer in the headlights when adjustments clearly need to be made.
Personally I just hope we get LUCKY! I hope Manny is able to recruit so much talent that the coaching won't matter, as has been the case with some other programs. Quiet as it's kept I am not so sure Saban would be doing as well if he didn't have the top one or two class every year.