I agree with the sentiment of many here that I’m extremely proud of all this team accomplished (and the memorable wins they gave us) despite having so many obvious flaws. However, I’m also extremely alarmed by the flaws that have now emerged within our roster/depth chart and discouraged by the fact I’m not so sure I see those issues getting significantly better next year (minus some unexpected huge last minute homeruns from the portal).
The cold hard truth IMHO is that on a national level this program had finally separated itself from the pack (two straight national championships, seemingly on the brink of a third, seemingly on brink of becoming the next great dynasty with Saban finally stepping aside)…but now that the dust has settled it’s obvious that we’ve returned back to the pack (two straight seasons falling short of making the “Final 4” and an outlook for next season’s roster that makes it hard to envision anything other than the season being over by January 1).
I know that most any other fan base (minus Alabama) would read my pouting and quickly ridicule how spoiled I am as a fan. Hell I would have done the same as recent as 4 years ago… but damn it we were so close that I could taste us running ahead of that pack for many more laps to go… and it sucks that we now have so many questions about if we have what it takes to pull back ahead and “separate” again.
To be clear, I love Kirby Smart and I know that there are many factors beyond our own control partially responsible for any type of credible “over/under” on how many Nattys he ends up winning in his coaching career to drop by AT LEAST 2 over the course of just 13 months and there is NO ONE else I can name that I’d rather have trying to figure out how to pull us back ahead of the pack in this drastically changed college football landscape! It’s weird though I was as heartbroken as anyone after we lost the Natty to Alabama in his second season, but it eased the pain feeling so confident that it would likely just continue doubling down on the system (which he and Saban seemingly masteredthat got us there so quickly
The cold hard truth IMHO is that on a national level this program had finally separated itself from the pack (two straight national championships, seemingly on the brink of a third, seemingly on brink of becoming the next great dynasty with Saban finally stepping aside)…but now that the dust has settled it’s obvious that we’ve returned back to the pack (two straight seasons falling short of making the “Final 4” and an outlook for next season’s roster that makes it hard to envision anything other than the season being over by January 1).
I know that most any other fan base (minus Alabama) would read my pouting and quickly ridicule how spoiled I am as a fan. Hell I would have done the same as recent as 4 years ago… but damn it we were so close that I could taste us running ahead of that pack for many more laps to go… and it sucks that we now have so many questions about if we have what it takes to pull back ahead and “separate” again.
To be clear, I love Kirby Smart and I know that there are many factors beyond our own control partially responsible for any type of credible “over/under” on how many Nattys he ends up winning in his coaching career to drop by AT LEAST 2 over the course of just 13 months and there is NO ONE else I can name that I’d rather have trying to figure out how to pull us back ahead of the pack in this drastically changed college football landscape! It’s weird though I was as heartbroken as anyone after we lost the Natty to Alabama in his second season, but it eased the pain feeling so confident that it would likely just continue doubling down on the system (which he and Saban seemingly masteredthat got us there so quickly
