Couldn’t agree more. After 18 years of rotten culture, mediocrity, and bad recruiting evals, this was never going to be a quick turnaround. Go back to Jimmy and Butch, and you’ll see moments that looked exactly like this one.
How Mario works out is TBD. But we’re in week five of year 1. Imho, we’re at least 2 years away from being a consistent 9-win team, and 3-4 years from being nationally relevant. Even the greatest coaches had transition years (Bama 7-5 in 07’; Dabo 15-12 his first two seasons; Luke Fickell 4-8 his first season). It’s not gonna be easy. Also dumb to say we’re doomed. Theres a pretty clear record of good coaches having growing pains and making a jump after.