the one positive thing tubs did was redshirt as many guys as possible. This gave us a young roster last year. I think following his recruiting cycle moving on from butch jones last class everyone should have seen a bit of a down year coming last year based on this recruiting pattern. No excuse for that dumpster fire, because a down year like that should have still produced 7 wins.
I still think his recruits are a little above average talent for the conference and having that heavily redshirted first class become seniors we'll be much more of a full roster this season. along with some improved coaching SHOULD spell out another 9 win season. not sure we have the QB to live up to that and transitions are always tough, but it was clearly expected to be an up year by the previous coaches and should give fickell more to work with than appearances would indicate.

one thing i'm concerned about is fickell's learning curve will be much larger than most people see coming. his one year at osu is given a pass because of the scandal. I agree to an extent but don't look past the facts he had an absolutely loaded roster (12 wins the years before and after), and the osu coaching staff around him virtually intact. now in cincy he'll look to win games when his roster is sometimes less talented than the opponent, with a rookie DC, and low experienced OC.

I think the program is in better hands but this is surely a multi year rebuild as fickell learns on the job. we will see winning/excitement return uptown and if re-alignment happens again in a few years we should be well positioned. 2017 will be 7-5 with some very encouraging points and some frustrations caused by both players and coaches