Yo; this topic gets ppl so riled up. Lol.
The only fact I can say is that Butch saved us from becoming dead, can we all agree on that? The NCAA was trying to kill us. Also, Butch reestablished us as a dominant power, and I think we can all agree, the yr 2000, we got screwed out of natty. KD played one bad half of football against U-Dub and that one bad half was our undoing of a perfect season. Irregardless (god I hate that word) never has a team beat the #1, and # 2 ranked teams in a season, including the defending Nat’l Champs, with one loss, and been left out of the title picture to the team they beat.
However, that’s all water under the bridge.
I think we can all agree Richt did some good things here to bring excitement back to the boosters and fan base. However, between Richt being burnt out and his ever dying loyalty to his son (which it should’ve been as a father), he undid all the positives and split the fan base just as divisively as Golden did. Richt will be good with me, b/c like Magic, he realized he was way in over his head, and he protected his son and his alma mater by stepping down.
I don’t know what Butch would’ve done here, round 2. I know FIU is having its most healthy seasons under his watch, but that’s Conference USA. Who knows if high caliber kids would be lining up to be playing for him. Our rep has been so badly damaged by complete ineptitude from top to bottom since he’s left, so who knows. What we all hope for is Manny brings some credibility back to our program, have us competing for top tier bowl games, then National Championships, b/c if this doesn’t happen under his watch....guys, I’m not sure where we’ll be. The further we stray from our legacy, the more irrelevant we’ll be and harder to get our back yard to stay our back yard.
