Was contemplating our football program and where Dan has brought us (and left us), and I recalled making an off-the-cuff comparison the other day between Clemson ~10 years ago to us now. I decided I'd actually research it a little bit, and here's what I came up with (note, the recruiting rankings are an average of all I could find for a given year - typically a combination of 247, Rivals, Scout, and ESPN).
View attachment 8868View attachment 8869
Breaking down Bowden's 9 years and Dabo's years vs. Mullen's 9 years and our potential next 10 years:
View attachment 8870
If the next coach can average around 15-20, with maybe breaking a couple of top 10 (not even top 5) recruiting classes, we may could be set to take the next step. I think Dan laid the foundation. Let's hope Cohen can get us someone to build on that. We're not all that dissimilar from Clemson, just clicking along averaging above 7.5 wins per year (those numbers are exactly the same for Bowden and Dan) with some 8's, 9's, and even a 10 win season. Who knows, maybe we can get up to averaging 10 wins like Dabo over the next 10 years.
Anyway, just some positive thoughts. Remember, Dan is the reason we made it to No. 1 in 2014; he's also the reason we lost to Bama and Ole Miss and finished 10-2 and missed the playoff that year. Dan's also the reason we went' 8-4 this year instead of 6-6/5-7; he's also the reason we lost to Bama and Ole Miss again and finished 8-4 instead of 10-2. Good/bad, I'm appreciative of where he brought us, and I'm looking forward to where the next guy could take us. Also looking forward to taking my 3-year old girl to her first ball game next year, might even make it the Florida game to teach to her to boo Mullen, haha.
View attachment 8868View attachment 8869
Breaking down Bowden's 9 years and Dabo's years vs. Mullen's 9 years and our potential next 10 years:
View attachment 8870
If the next coach can average around 15-20, with maybe breaking a couple of top 10 (not even top 5) recruiting classes, we may could be set to take the next step. I think Dan laid the foundation. Let's hope Cohen can get us someone to build on that. We're not all that dissimilar from Clemson, just clicking along averaging above 7.5 wins per year (those numbers are exactly the same for Bowden and Dan) with some 8's, 9's, and even a 10 win season. Who knows, maybe we can get up to averaging 10 wins like Dabo over the next 10 years.
Anyway, just some positive thoughts. Remember, Dan is the reason we made it to No. 1 in 2014; he's also the reason we lost to Bama and Ole Miss and finished 10-2 and missed the playoff that year. Dan's also the reason we went' 8-4 this year instead of 6-6/5-7; he's also the reason we lost to Bama and Ole Miss again and finished 8-4 instead of 10-2. Good/bad, I'm appreciative of where he brought us, and I'm looking forward to where the next guy could take us. Also looking forward to taking my 3-year old girl to her first ball game next year, might even make it the Florida game to teach to her to boo Mullen, haha.
