This leads us to the “Fire Geoff Collins” thread, right?
Well, its not too far of a leap, but since all roads seem to lead there these days, I'd offer that there is probably more at play. Its easy to scapegoat the face of the program (who is raking in a salary most of us, if not all of us, can only dream about) when things are going south. There is certainly merit to arguments that preparation is largely to blame and even if he isn't directly preparing these guys, he is overseeing the preparation and the "buck" has to stop somewhere.
That said, I just haven't seen the killer instinct anywhere yet. I can go down a rabbit hole of corny cliches, but I haven't seen the guy (coach, asst coach, captain, field leader) who puts a moment on his shoulders and refuses to let the team fail. I haven't seen the guy who gets in someone's facemask; either for letting up or to motivate, support and demand success. I haven't seen a guy who refuses to relax even when everything is going our way; the kind of guy who's fired up when a third stringer makes a play in garbage time even if it ultimately means nothing to the outcome and everyone else is turning off their sets or heading to the car.
I'm not saying anyone is mailing it in, but I just haven't seen that gritty determined leadership yet. I'm not in the huddle, I'm not in the locker room and I am not any closer to the program than my seat at the stadium or in front of my TV. Maybe we have those guys and they haven't matured. Maybe its happening and it hasn't manifested in performance yet. Maybe we haven't had those guys and through the changes in staff, transfers or maturity, now we do. CGC doesn't have to be that guy, but somebody needs to be. Honestly, more than a few somebodies need to be. I would like to see it come from upper classmen and asst coaches, but I'll take it from wherever its genuine. If CGC is the supportive / cheerleader type, that's fine, but we need a few guys who take ownership / leadership roles in a hurry. I hope those guys are here and I hope they're ready to step up. If that has been here all along and I have missed it, then God help us, we'll take that road back to the "Fire Geoff Collins" thread.