Ignoring all possible changes to the setting of college football (conferences, paying players…).
In my opinion, we will be back to back pac12 champs at some point in the next 10 years. Our offensive recruiting is improving. I see us having a big time WR or two on our teams in the not too distant future as recruits see what Andy Ludwig can do with talented players. I see a continued emphasis on athletic tight ends.
We have already made it to the championship game 2 years in a row, and I don’t see any reason why we won’t do so again some time in the not too distant future, and I hope by then we will have developed the depth to win.
While the finish to last season was truly awful, it is clear that the program is on an upward trajectory. I am excited to see who the next players to step up are going to be. Nobody thought that Tyler and Zack would mean as much as they did to this team. Kuithe surprised everyone this year. Most fans thought LB would be a position of weakness after Bowen quit, and Lloyd turned out to be an absolute stud.
The defense will almost certainly regress from last year, but I’m confident that new players will step up and this coming season (whenever it comes) will be a lot of fun to watch.
Also, I believe that when Scalley takes over he will take our recruiting to greater heights. The next 10+ years (assuming college football exists in it’s current form) are going to be a lot of fun!
I hope your dreams come true.
I also hope we curb-stomp Bama in the process. So badly that they dispand football and their fanbase all simultaneously melt like the wicked witch of the west
I doubt Whit will be the coach in 10 years so the key will be hiring a coach who is as consistent and understands the type of player to bring in. Before he was head coach Whit was so good at identifying talent. Morgan Scalley seems to be just as good in that regard. I think Scalley could maintain what Whit has built but I can see them looking outside the program for the next coach.
I don’t see us in a significantly different position in 10 years from where we are today. Today, we are in the chase for the PAC 12 South every year, we are ranked most every year, win 7-9 games and play in a bowl game most every year. I don’t think we will ever overtake USC and Oregon as the glamour schools in the PAC. Along the way to 10 years from now I hope we stay at the same level that we are now and add a couple of PAC 12 titles and a Rose Bowl appearance or two. If the stars align, I could see a championship series appearance. Over the past 10 years we have gone from a team that went into most PAC 12 games as an underdog to a team that expects and is expected to win most of its PAC 12 games.
Consider our trajectory since joining the conference and continue to extrapolate that out, even with Scalley as head coach, and this is a distinct possibility. A consistent contender for the Pac-12 crown and continuous improvement in recruiting, on-field performance, facilities, etc., over a (10 years from now) 20 year span and the statement doesn’t look quite that far fetched.
If our next coach uses exactly the same formula Whit has perfected, I believe we will be about what we have been for the last 5 years. We’ll be the team nobody wants to play, we will threaten for the title, but mostly we will lose the really big games against super-talented competition. Still, I hope, and I believe, that every 10-15 years we will win big, be in the Rose Bowl, and maybe even win a Rose Bowl
championship.
I like your optimism. However, like Britton Johnsen, I thought I would be attending another Final Four with my Utes in the 4 or 5 years following 1998. Now I’m just hoping for an NCAA tournament invite.