Agreed with one hitch: I hope you're arguing that Evans would've beaten Howe the year he pinned Perry in the semis -- otherwise don't be too happy to argue the point. The other 2 years he placed, he was in Brown's half of the bracket (lost to Brown once, lost one round before facing Brown the other).
What strikes me about Brands -- and probably is your point of acknowledging vs. correcting issues -- is most coaches except Cael have the same management philosophy: we wrestle with one team style. All incoming guys need to be broken down and rebuilt into our style. Once they've mastered that, only then can they add back in some of their own individual style.
For Brands that means defense first, push and shove guys forward, and attack only when the opponent is off-balance or out of position. For Smith, defense first, step backward, induce bad shots and counter. Santoro, block and hand fight. Ryan, gym tan laundry. Pitt, hug the boundary and order escorts at Midlands. Etc.
Smith changed with then refs more aggressively called stalls and when the boundary rules changed. (Brock sticking Brewer as a true freshman probably didn't hurt.) What would cause Brands to change?
IMO a superior true freshman like Lee who is championship ready upon arrival, and Brands doesn't have time to break down and rebuilt. OK, great, but is it too late for the rest of the team? Put another way, who else could be set loose without setbacks (and it would take)? Kemerer and Warner, yes. Marinelli and Cassioppi, probably. Lugo, maybe. Murin and Young, unlikely. Stoll, that's funny.
So it comes back to recruiting. Brands has primarily landed guys who fit his mold, not guys who can break his mold. Until he changes that, doesn't matter at the team level, and it will be up to special individuals to break through on their own.
Plus Brands needs to be less hard headed about his philosophy.
Sounds like he needs to study the 3 inch binder this offseason.
We're very fortunate that Cael doesn't impose a team style. Everyone leverage your own individual strengths from the beginning. Just score points.
