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Message: [QUOTE="Consigliere, post: 2652198, member: 559"] There is no question that being :a bowl team" in 2018 is nowhere near as impressive as it was 30 years ago, but it still serves as a line of demarcation. Conversely being a "non-bowl" team carries a much more severe stigma to it that is certainly raised on the recruiting trail. Getting to a bowl is not a be-all, end-all in terms of where a program should aspire to, but it is certainly a visible first step. And the fact that there is only ONE P5 program that has had a longer drought than us was an eye-opener to me regarding how far we have to go. I firmly believe we will get there. I will be more than a little disappointed if we don't end the streak of misery in 2018. I also get the impression talking to those in the know that the focus has always been on 2019 and have that earmarked as the true return to national relevance. In terms of scheduling, you know how I feel about that. Everyone associated with the program recognizes the positives associated with playing high profile games in historic venues and I have truly relished some of my road trips over the years. I've been pretty strident insisting that it was not the LSU game that kept us out of a bowl last year as much as it was losing to MTSU and getting blown out by BC and Wake - all at home. But what I discounted was the physical toll those games take on a team. Difficult to find opportunities to build depth in game situations when every game is a war and it was clear that the physicality of top tier opponents we faced last year not only had a tangible injury component but also led to a LB corps that had virtually nothing left to give in the last month of the year. I think we will still pick our spots for games like LSU and Wisconsin going forward but it's clear that until we build the depth required to compete in the ACC with 85 scholarship players physically ready to step on the field we're going to see far more P5 mandates filled by teams like Rutgers, Purdue and Vanderbilt than by Alabama, Oklahoma or USC. [/QUOTE]

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