Of course Stansbury and Collins know this is likely going to be a rough year attendance-wise. If that didn't cross their mind, I would be worried about what they are thinking about.
I am not saying that fans know what is best for the program. The past decade of Tennessee football is evidence of that. CGC himself admitted what I alluded to regarding press conferences with his statements regarding it being time to coach more and talk/brand less. A statement that at the time was lambasted by the media because his job is to coach. I think that Stansbury and Collins know that their words will fall on deaf ears if results do not accompany those words.
I don't think that any of this is necessarily about Collins, he just happens to be at the front-end of the criticism. We had hit a ceiling under Johnson and it was time to try something else. The Institute also made decisions before I was born that led us down the path to where we are now. The fact of the matter is that GT makes so much money off of academics/research that the hill does not have to give a crap about athletics. We, unfortunately, choose to show our love for Tech through the support of athletics programs that are not, and have not been, adequately supported by the alumni base at large and the shakers and movers with the Institute. Collins could be viewed as a tragic figure of sorts, but the potential tragedy of the situation is why he got a 7 year contract. That also doesnt absolve him of responsibility. I think that if any improvement was shown this past year that the negativity would not be as bad as it is. I think the fan base at large was relatively patient with him the first two years. There was actually a lot of excitement going into last year.
Discussing the current state of the program and lamenting the point to which we have fallen is toxic to a degree. That doesn't change the fact that we are here. If this forum and all the negative comments were totally obliterated off the internet, the stands still would have been red at COFH last year. 9 wins in 3 years will do that to a program. Having a mostly STEM school with an ever increasing number of international and out of state students will do that to a program. A program that was already experiencing a decline in fan support over the past decade that had its highs and lows, experienced an even bigger decline when things got worse (record-wise). That is not an unexpected result. Winning cures all woes in the end. We just are not winning enough. It is understood that we are reaching a make-or-break year for Collins. I would argue that if this were not a make-or-break year, sending the message to recruits that you are ok with 3-9 is not great branding either. There has to be an impetus for improvement and a desire to make things better. There has to be assurances given to recruits, fans, and the institute that things will improve.
You are correct, rot is rot. It has been at Tech for a long time and is now manifesting itself more out in the open. That said, the entire fanbase is never going to be content with a hire and there will always be those deriding a coach (unless you have a Saban on staff). Fan complaints are not the rot that is destroying Tech athletics. People hated on Johnson because of his offense even when we went to the Orange bowl, people hated Chan Gailey because he never beat Georgia or was too pro-style etc. This list could be done for all of our coaches in all of our sports. To an extent, I am just happy we have enough people that care enough to complain. Look at Kansas. The football program has fallen to such irrelevance that, except when they beat Texas every other year, no one thinks about them. I also think the value placed on fan comments is over-stated. There are schools that have recruited better than Tech despite having much more toxic fans. Tech fans mostly don't berate recruits like what we see from other schools. Kids pick the school they are attending for a myriad of reasons. Falling in line as fans will not solve Tech's problems and supporting the school does not equal to falling in line. Just because Collins is the lightening rod that is attracting a lot criticism doesn't mean every complaint is about him. Just because people want Collins gone doesn't mean that they are ignorant to the changing landscape of college football at large. Being Collins-centric and worshipping him like the second coming is not going to make him the coach that we are hoping he will become. It is not going to turn Tech into a powerhouse. All of that could very well happen and I hope we win every game from here on out. I personally don't care who our AD and coach is. I don't care what our offense or defense is. I just want the school that I graduated from to kick some major "$$ in football and destroy the mutts in Athens.
Fan complaints did not kill Army's, Harvard's, Princeton's , Sewanee's, or Tulane's championship aspirations. The changing landscape of the sport did. Just becuase I made a statement about TStan and CGC knowing that attendance would likely be down this year in terms of season ticket holders does not equate to some indictment on a lack of knowledge on their part or that I or anyone else can solve the situation. The peak off egotistical folly is to assume that one has all the answers. They are more knowledgable about why we are where we are than any of us here. That is why it is their job to fix the situation.