I'm just being honest here...
What has me backtracking from the beginning of the year and being TOTALLY against Gus to now on the fence aren't just the wins against UGA and bama. Sure that is a part of it, but it's looking at the larger landscape of college football as a whole. The game has changed so much in the last 15 years. 9-3 seasons used to be good but are now considered shit if you don't make the playoffs.
I'm just wondering where we are anymore as a fanbase. Are we ok with 3-5 losses but an amazing season once every 4 years? What if I said we would be 10-2 for the next 4 years but never made one playoff versus we are going to be 8-4, 7-5, 9-3 but that 4th season man we are going to be in the show? Which would you rather have? I know what I would.
Kevin Sumlin just got fired at aTm after having a .662 winning percentage there. The prior coaches Sherman and Frachione were .500 and .533.
All I'm saying is a lot of us were clamoring for the Tubs days, but a lot of us forget Tubs lost games he should have won too, most coaches do. Are we too quick to react in this new era of College Football? Are we being too fickle of fans?
For a very, very long time this is all I said I wanted:
1) Beat the ones you're supposed to. You can't go 2-4 against MSU and Ole Miss over three years. You've also got to devour the cupcakes, too.
2) Be consistently competitive against your biggest rivals. You can't be 2-7 against LSU, UGA and UAT. You don't have to beat them every year, but it does need to be somewhat in the even range.
3) Be in the running for the SEC late in every season and have a shot to win (SEC/Playoffs) it all on occasion.
All I really wanted is for us to act like we belong in the Big Six conversation.
Two things happened over the last five years, though, that derailed that.
First is the Saban effect. Those cheating bastards created an artificial bar that everybody has to one degree or another started to chase. It's why A&M thinks they are too good for Sumlin, how Ole Miss was willing to look away, Dixieland when Freeze was whorechasing, why Georgia turned on Richt, why LSU thought it was too elite for Les.... I read other boards every once in a while and it's amazing to me to read how the fans of each program view their own. I've recently seen Arkansas, A&M, Ole Miss, MSU and Tennessee all claim they have the best facilities, the best fanbase, the most advantages, etc. etc. Every single one of those schools actually think they are a Top four SEC destination. Well, that's fucking ridiculous. None of them are. UT was, but that was two decades ago.
Second is the WAY Auburn has lost games in the last few years. I can take losing. It happens. What I can't fathom is coming out and looking like we've never seen a fucking football before. With Gus, there doesn't seem to be a middle ground. We either look like total assclowns or we beat the fuck out of people. That rollercoaster of dumbfuckery to awesomeness doesn't ever let me get settled or comfortable. It's why an 8-3 season feels like 5-6. Because we just look so totally inept that I can't get my mind around it. It's painful to watch.
So to answer your question? I'd be a million percent happy with what I've always wanted -- which is to be competitive all the time and excellent some of the time -- so long as I didn't have to witness the monkey fucking a football scenarios and as long as I know that at some point the Crimpson dynasty will fade.