BigDaddyBuzz: It is a combination of the coach, the schedule, the matchups, etal. However, my view is that the buck stops with the coach. Regardless of the opposition, the coach is hired to win games and develop players. The coach is paid handsomely to win the games. If we don't care about winning, then we just hire a coach, pay him a professor's salary, and it is his job to teach the sport to the players. However, it is true that a team is a mirror image of its coaching. What you see on the field is the result of the coaching to produce those results.
Auburn is a great example. Gene Chizik's record was 8-5 in 2009. He rode a great quarterback to a 14-0 season in 2010. He then, dropped back to 8-5 in 2011, and down to 3-9 in 2012. Gus Malzahn comes in 2013, plays for the NC and has a record of 12-2. The team played to its coaching. We will see if this continues next year. There has never been a dearth of talent at either Auburn or Alabama.
Bobby Bowden had grown old and should have given up the job sooner, but from 2005-2009, his record was 8-5, 7-6, 7-6, 9-4, and 7-6. His coaching was affecting the play of the team (he still had great material). They were a mirror image of his coaching. Fisher takes over the head job in 2010 and continues through 2013 at present. His record is 10-4, 9-4, 12-2, and 14-0 for this period. It has to be apparent that his coaching has improved the effects of the team. The same type of results are readily available throughout the history of NCAA schools. Schools will be losing, a new coach arrives, and the won-loss records change. Sometimes, it is in reverse such as North Carolina. Mack was their coach, recruited well and won big-time. He left for the Texas job, and Torbush took over from him. Torbush could not win with the same good recruits Mack left in the program. Again, a team is the mirror image of its coaching.
I have looked up these situations an placed the same type of information on other boards. It can be confirmed from history and coaching changes, even at the big factories. Texas, which had one of the best bases of recruiting in the nation had its ups and downs with great recruits, but various coaches. Mack had lost his edge and was becoming mediocre with great talent. He has now been replaced with Charlie Strong. Let's see how their team plays next year under a new coach. I don't care how good the players are rated, unless they are coached properly and to their individual talents and strengths, they will not fare greatly.