I was wrong this year. I predicted 6 regular season wins and a win in a meaningless bowl game.
We won 8 and then a good bowl game victory to finish at 9.
The defense (we knew the secondary was good, but the front 7 got better each week and ended up being really good by seasons end), played better than I thought. I underestimated the talent on that side of the ball.
That said...
And Fleck said it himself in his interviews yesterday when he kept saying we start by "digging"...
...We will be lucky IMHO to win 7 -8 games next year. So much inexperience and youth.
I think Fleck is a great hire. I believe in his system and what he wants to accomplish. I think he WILL lead us to a B10 Championship Game and maybe more...
...But not next year.
We have zero experience at the most important position on the field (QB).
Our starting center, and our best WR by far are gone.
On D, the Expe Bros finished the year well and they are gone. The conference's best freshman DB (Winfield) is gone. Myrick and Travis (both invited to the NFL combine) are gone. Travis spent 10 seconds before every snap last year getting guys in the right position on the field as he was, IMHO, the keymaster on D.
That away game against OSU will be tough as they will be a bowl team next year. At Michigan and at Iowa are tough.
If Fleck gets us to 6-6 or 7-5 with a couple good wins and a couple close loses to good teams, I will be really excited about our team and future.
What say y'all ?
Again, I love the Fleck hire. My oars are coming in from Amazon.com on rush order. I just think realistic expectations are 6-7 wins.
