quote:
I think you misunderstood who I was talking about. I too am disappointed in the season. I was simply referring to those who have been vocally against the coach since before the season bc he’s not Wade. They’d rather be right about their stance than see the program win and be proven wrong.

There was very little, if any, preseason animosity directly against McMahon. The anger stemmed from the decision to fire the first HC in 30 years that was winning consistently. And how could you really blame them? The program had a since of "life" and optimism for the first time in decades.

McMahon was ALWAYS going to be compared to Wade. That's human nature. No different than fans who compared Miles to Saban, or Smoke to Skip, etc. I don't think those fans want to see McMahon fail simply so they can have some sort of message board cred. They want to see LSU win. And I bet if you asked whether they would want to see McMahon win the SEC championship in year 1 or see him fail simply to prove them "right" they would all choose option 1.

But Wade wasn't fired because of poor on court results. So when his successor immediately has one of the worst seasons in decades, fans are going to become MORE enamored, supportive, desirous, etc of the previous coach that was winning. If McMahon goes to the NCAA Tournament next season and makes a deep run you will hear less and less about Wade. No different than when Miles won double-digit games in 05, 06, culminating with a championship in 07. The longing for Saban turned into hate. Fans fully supported Miles...until he started routinely losing to Saban.

While some will pretend otherwise, all fans care about is WINNING. If McMahon wins the nostalgia and longing for Wade will decrease proportionally. But until he does, its not some mystery why the fanbase would long for the coach that was winning.