How the staff prepared a team comprised freshmen and walk-ons, playing in a system they’ve never played in before? No. There’s basically no indication of how well they will prepare a team when it’s actually fit to win.
- Kyle Shanahan went 6-10 his first year in SF. Now he’s in the Super Bowl and considered one of the best coaches in the league.
- PJ Fleck went 5-7 his first year at Minnesota. Just finished the year at 11-2 with wins over Penn State and Auburn, and every major school in the country with a potential coaching vacancy is trying to hire him away.
- Nick Saban went 7-6 his first year at Alabama, and hasn’t won less than 10 since.
- Kirby Smart went 8-5 his first year at Georgia, losing to traditional powerhouses like Vanderbilt and Georgia Tech. The Dwags haven’t looked back since.
- Paul Johnson went 2-10 his first year at Navy, and didn’t win fewer than 8 after that until he came to Tech. He won 9 in year 1, 11 in year 2, and then had a pretty average to mediocre career here barring 2014.
The point? You
cannot judge a coach (or coaching staff) completely based on one year. Especially when almost 1/4 of the travel roster are walk-ons, and over 1/2 are FR or SO.