[StanfordMatt]

And second, I disagree that the fluctuations in success necessarily reflect whether the university suddenly does or does not “care about winning.” Many many universities care about winning every single year, and yet they have up and down years — it’s part of college football. Notre Dame has had some similar downs (perhaps not as prolonged) and I can assure you, they care about winning every year. There was a deteriorating trend but I think it was reasonable that the university was a bit slow to respond due to Shaw’s previous success (the team narrowly lost a conference championship in 2017), and because the pandemic provided cover for the 2020-2021 seasons.

They were also likely "slow to respond" because they owed Shaw a gazillion dollars. There was no turning the page until Shaw was ready, he could've held the program hostage for many more years if he had wanted to. I never expected him to voluntarily walk away, but to his credit he did and left a lot of money on the table in doing so. I believe that was what allowed the administration to move forward.

[StanfordMatt]

And second, I disagree that the fluctuations in success necessarily reflect whether the university suddenly does or does not “care about winning.” Many many universities care about winning every single year, and yet they have up and down years — it’s part of college football. Notre Dame has had some similar downs (perhaps not as prolonged) and I can assure you, they care about winning every year. There was a deteriorating trend but I think it was reasonable that the university was a bit slow to respond due to Shaw’s previous success (the team narrowly lost a conference championship in 2017), and because the pandemic provided cover for the 2020-2021 seasons.

They were also likely "slow to respond" because they owed Shaw a gazillion dollars. There was no turning the page until Shaw was ready, he could've held the program hostage for many more years if he had wanted to. I never expected him to voluntarily walk away, but to his credit he did and left a lot of money on the table in doing so. I believe that was what allowed the administration to move forward.