In Reply to: UCLA's Win Over Penn State: Signs the Sleeping Giant Exists posted by mh on October 07, 2025 at 14:10:46
To be fair, a lot of programs could be "sleeping giants", emphasis on the word "sleeping". Most every big conference program is "waiting for the right coach to show up." Sometimes he does, like with Cignetti at IU. IU was roadkill not two years ago. Now, all of a sudden they're scrambling to raise NIL, like magic! Who knew that after 5 winning seasons in 30 years, that they loved football so much in Bloomington? IT'S A MIRACLE!
Dillingham at ASU. What had Clemson done in the 20 years before Dabo Swinney took over as interim coach? There are so many examples.
The point is that, THINGS CHANGE. Look at Saturday, you simply change leadership and get some people to believe, and you can literally look like a different team.
There's a reason UCLA students aren't as focused on football: for most of their lives the team has not been any good. But, overall, Americans love football. Every student body/fan base wants to be good at football.
I don't think most of us have any real expectation of becoming a football "superpower". We want a team that can make the playoffs once in a while. UW has made it. IU has made it. ASU has made it. Michigan State has made it. TCU has made it. Or at least come within a win or two of making it. Get close.
It would definitely take a culture change but it's hardly impossible. We are already seeing some signs of change at the top with Frenk in charge, such as firing the head coach 3 games into a season, and also parting with both coordinators and essentially starting over. And now the program and Athletic Department may be faced with an existential crisis if they can't fix football. So, sitting back and cashing the checks may not be viable for much longer. Surely, this realization could have a chance to spark some change.
What it takes is a big infusion of money, and for that money to come in they need someone(s) who can extract it from the people who have it. Because, there are people out there who have it. If that happens, UCLA has a shot. Heck, if that happens, Northwestern has a shot. Cal has a shot. Illinois has a shot. Personally, of these types of teams, I think UCLA has a better shot, for the reasons Pierson stated.
You mention the Mora era. Well, if a couple of his teams had squeaked out an extra win, they probably would have been in a 12-team playoff, if there was one at the time.
Heck, if we'd had a credible coaching staff and maybe 5 more good linemen, we might have had a shot this year.