[CTcard]

... in the mold of Harbaugh's quick turnaround recipe = better line play and offensive execution.  I'm convinced it's the coaches.

I've always been a little suspicious of overly quick turnarounds - if a team can make a big change in won/loss right away then either things weren't so bad to begin with or there is good old randomness at play.

Harbaugh at Stanford is a good example of the opposite. Things were bad. And Harbaugh's four years went 4-8, 5-7, 8-5, 12-1. That first Harbaugh team was a step up from 1-11 the year before but only a step, and it was worse than the 5-6 record from two years previous. [And I am surprised to realize it was only the year previous to Harbaugh that we switched to 12 regular season games. (EDIT thanks to French Rage.)] Of course watching the team was different. It was obviously a much more disciplined and ... enthusiastic team in 2007 versus the several previous years.

The continuing rise was more steady than meteoric, at least until the big jump in 2010. Many things came together that year, but I've always thought the real key development was the magic of Vic Fangio, our one-year DC. Through 2009 our defense was still bad. In 2009 we were ninth in the Pac 10 in yds/game total defense (402.7). In 2010 that switched to second (322.8 ) and the worst we have been ever since was fourth last year. [Plus the conference added two teams for 2011.]

It sure feels to me that a steady improvement is a better sign of a long term change than a sudden first great year from a coach - but I admit that is mostly just a feeling.

[CTcard]

... in the mold of Harbaugh's quick turnaround recipe = better line play and offensive execution.  I'm convinced it's the coaches.

I've always been a little suspicious of overly quick turnarounds - if a team can make a big change in won/loss right away then either things weren't so bad to begin with or there is good old randomness at play.

Harbaugh at Stanford is a good example of the opposite. Things were bad. And Harbaugh's four years went 4-8, 5-7, 8-5, 12-1. That first Harbaugh team was a step up from 1-11 the year before but only a step, and it was worse than the 5-6 record from two years previous. [And I am surprised to realize it was only the year previous to Harbaugh that we switched to 12 regular season games. (EDIT thanks to French Rage.)] Of course watching the team was different. It was obviously a much more disciplined and ... enthusiastic team in 2007 versus the several previous years.

The continuing rise was more steady than meteoric, at least until the big jump in 2010. Many things came together that year, but I've always thought the real key development was the magic of Vic Fangio, our one-year DC. Through 2009 our defense was still bad. In 2009 we were ninth in the Pac 10 in yds/game total defense (402.7). In 2010 that switched to second (322.8 ) and the worst we have been ever since was fourth last year. [Plus the conference added two teams for 2011.]

It sure feels to me that a steady improvement is a better sign of a long term change than a sudden first great year from a coach - but I admit that is mostly just a feeling.