I opposed hiring O. I STILL believe the choice was indefensible in terms of criteria. That said, some hiring choices that are 100% defensible don't pan out and some that seem silly do. Sure. That's not a solid way to play the odds, but it happens. So, with that in mind, once the hiring occurred, I simply decided to judge on what happened from there forward. So.......

My take on O as of today. Note, I'm sure some will say, "well that wasn't O" or whatnot. Pfft. He's in charge. If we suck, the buck stops on his desk. If we don't, he'll deserve some credit.

Positives:
1. The team overall appeared to get better as the season progressed. Yes, I know our schedule helped, but, I still think it's very arguable that the team in November was well ahead of the team in September.

2. Recruiting. I know that this is one people are griping about but honestly, I was concerned recruiting could crater because of O's history. Instead, the class looks to be a decent class that maybe is a shade short of when we were at our best. And, it's filling needs which sometimes even our best recruiting did NOT do.

3. Recovery. The team could have totally folded after the Troy loss. We've certainly seen that happen to teams in college ball. That they didn't is a credit no matter who you want to give it to.

Negatives:
1. Well, you really can't accept MSU/Troy. That shite happens again next year and all the improvement as the season goes along in the world won't shine the turd.

2. In game decisions. Honestly, I wanted to put this in the positive but some of how he handled the QB situation this year was a real head scratcher. I was VERY over DE but, O still bungled the frick out of that a couple of times. It's kinda of a credit to DE that the dude didn't just fold up shop(especially after the Bama game)

3. The need to revamp how he was running the team after Troy. I mean, look. That's cool and it seemed to be the right call. But shite. That's why we didn't want to hire him. We don't need a guy trying to figure out the right way to be a head coach.....on the job!

4. His handling of this Canada situation is completely asinine

Overall:
I saw enough this year to think it's possible next season that O surprises us. I think those that say it's a certainty that he will fail are simply trying to fulfill their own prophecies.

But, I damned sure didn't see enough to start polishing up national championship trophies. The folks in here who have effectively become O pumpers are silly.

I just think we're in a limbo season. A season where there isn't enough to go on to be overly optimistic or pessimistic.

So. For me. In the absence of a definitive reason not to be, I'm entering this off season very hopeful about next.

We are returning like 40 players who played on defense(exaggeration LOL). And, theoretically, we have two guys who are supposed to have talent competing for the spot at QB. And, we seem to have gotten help in the trenches(not to mention the OL did improve as the season went along).

I'm content to go in to 2018 with that but with a cautious eye given O's lack of pedigree.

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