You think Alabama has ALWAYS won like this? They haven't, they were the epitome of mediocre for the better part of 20+ years, and even then, they STILL had their community to rely on. Clemson was nothing for DECADES after Danny Ford left, but if a kid in their area wanted to go to Clemson, they got him, period. Same with Texas, same with a lot of other schools that have fanbases that aren't trash. Once again, Miami is expected to win despite a fanbase that provides **** near nothing. They don't give, they don't support in tough times(Even when times are good, every game isn't a sellout), and they allow the one advantage the school has to be siphoned off by scummy programs. Unfortunately, the alumni can't carry it all ourselves, because we are decentralized(Most of us GTFO out of South Florida after graduation, because well, most rational people have zero interest in staying there to raise a family)
Our fanbase treats the program like a pro team, and then acts shocked when things go sideways. Has the athletic department helped themselves? No, they've made **** poor hires, were slow to adjust to the arms race in regards to facilities and did a terrible job of leveraging available resources. That said, it's a fool's errand to expect any program to win DESPITE the community that surrounds it. College football is all about unity, having a community unite with the University to leverage all available resources to achieve an end goal. Tough to do that when the lifeblood of your program is consistently sucked away, thanks to talent pimps and the like. Not only that, the local community knows it is going on and does nothing to prevent it.