1. Dude, if you think the numbers you gave here are "very average for a P5 program", I'd
strongly advise you to take another look at P5 programs. Here are winning percentages for P5 programs for the last 5 years:
How good were the teams in conference play over the last five years? Here are the rankings of the teams and how well they did in their respective leagues, by conferences. Contact @PeteFiutak Yeah, …
collegefootballnews.com
Take a look; I'll still be here. Doesn't make Tech look so bad, does it? Even at 50%, Tech is right at the half way point for P5 winning percentages. That's "average", admittedly, but the schools in the lower half - like, say, the bottom 7 teams in the SEC - would kill to get there.
2. I hope people are right about having greater success. I hope Collins can lead us to it. Perhaps we can get to the level of Wisconsin or Washington; they've both done it with 30-ish recruiting classes. But … I continue to be doubtful that we can do it consistently enough to reach the goals many here seem to think can happen. We'll see.
3. Actually, I think that many here didn't think Paul was a good coach. I heard continual gripping about how we "Couldn't recruit. Couldn't win. Couldn't pass. Couldn't do as well as <your favorite perennial top 25 team here>." This happened even after 2014, largely because of the injury sunami of 2015. There was audible disappointment among some here when we rebounded for 9 wins in 2016. It showed up even more in 2018 when the team lost its starting BB for the second straight year and lost three straight. When they picked themselves off the floor, won 7 (including against Da U and UVA) , and went to a bowl, we had posts here saying they didn't deserve a bowl game. I think the reason for that was that some feared that Paul would survive as head coach.
But that's that. He's gone and we have to hope that Collins will prove to be as good in the long term. Despite some snipping above, I continue to hope he will do as well or better.