It's awesome to hear about the hard work these guys have put in during the off season and the health we have leading into things. We heard a lot about the effort last year and the specific focus on body fat and a lot of context in undoing the 3-9 season. This year, the work seems to be quieter, and it seems to reflect the culture our SAs are building themselves. From listening to CPJ, as tough as he can be when someone is making mistakes, he really does let the team build their own leadership and culture and support and enjoy those teams who get it right. And those happen to be the successful ones.
But in broader context, we've got a new AD who's shown much greater visibility and support for the football program in staff, facility updates, and also a great deal of faith in our coaches doing things their way. We are on target for a new apparel deal which will do wonders for our perception. Recruiting definitely feels different even with only a modest bump in rankings. And some of our most positive and active culture guys are true freshmen (Swillings), and I haven't heard any resentment for that either. Plus the feel in hoops is drastically different too.
While we are not ever going to have the resources of a factory, the trend in all our parts, the attitudes of everyone involved, and the early returns are awesome to my eyes. Good alignment in what we do in all the parts of our athletic programs is enormously important.