Guys, when are we going to move on? Against all odds, we're back in the national championship conversation. Unfairly and outrageously, the bastards tried to kill the program and failed. And here we are, with one of the best young coaches in the country, in the first month of the season, looking at a top-5 ranking and a real shot at the playoffs. Yet, we jabber on and on about past history. Screw it, man. Forget it.
Look, here's the hard freakin' fact of the matter: Joe's story is the stuff of Greek tragedy. A good man and great coach undone by the all too human failings of pride and cowardice. He stayed on too long, and in the end his judgment failed him. In the end, it became not about the team or the university, but about Joe. Which is ironic because if there was any one thing Joe preached during the Great Years, it was the team over the individual.
As much as people want it to be, this is not a black or white story. The people who worship Joe and won't let go are wrong. And the people who want to demonize him are equally wrong. The hard reality is in the middle, where most reality is. Let it go for God's sake. The haters are going to hate. And those who prefer living with blinders on will do that. Meanwhile, a lot of us just want to savor the moment. Mid-September. A top-5 ranking. 110,000 fans in the stadium.
It's time to move on.