I remember similar talk in 1997 and 1998 with Hayden. The team under-achieved in 1997 with tremendous talent, then laid a huge egg in their bowl game against ASU. Some persons, and rightly so, were wondering what was going on, and then 1998 came and the team was terrible (and, sadly, got blown out in Hayden's last game), and people were still wondering all season long when Hayden was going to call it quits, wondering how bad would he let the team get before he did so.
I feel a similar sort of vibe going on now. I can't think of a single phase in the game in which we will improve significantly next year to the level where we can compete for a championship in the B10. I think we have some solid players, but graduation losses won't be made up for by improvement in other areas, and since we can't out-scheme anyone it seems, I don't see any advantages coming from that end, either.
Like late 1998, I am wondering how bad we will get before KF decides to walk away. I give him credit for changing up assistants a few years back (I at least credit him for recognizing there was a problem), but unless he's going to do the same thing again (like with the OC, with Special Teams, with whoever is coaching the QB's, etc), I don't see how anything will change next season. We'll win 2 games maybe we should have lost, but we'll lose 4 games we should have won. We will end up someplace between 5-7 and 7-5, and attendance will keep going down. And we'll be having this same conversation all over again. Because Kirk can't change. He just can't. He could hire the Baylor OC as his OC and we would likely still see the same plays on the field we're seeing now. I feel kind of bad for him, because he's so clearly stuck in a rut, a 2002 'zone-blocking' rut, he's so clearly become passe in his methods, and only he doesn't see it. He's the only person who thought that Marc Weisman should stay at HB, as opposed to putting him back there as a FB with a fleet-footed HB, instantly doubling your options, and putting the defense a little more back on their heels. As soon as I heard Weisman was going to stay the HB, I knew our offense was going to be unimaginative and dull same-old same-old.
It's frustrating, since I've been regularly going to games for over 30 years, it's a pain to get down there with my work schedule, it costs me a ton of money, and it's just not as much fun as it should be. I'll never give up my tickets--the damn thing is in my blood, and my family's--but I sure as heck might downgrade my seats, which are rather expensive. And I might only get 2, instead of 4. I really, really hope things turn around before Kinnick starts getting attendances in the 40,000 range (like in the early 70's), while still paying their coach 4 million a year. And I don't know that things will ever turn around with this current staff. This is like having a girlfriend who you know is going to break up with you, yet you just don't have the stones to call it off before she breaks your heart. It's sad.
