When he can't motivate his players anymore, there just isn't much there. He doesn't put a lot into recruiting and he isn't an Xs and Os guy.
The ignominious fall has been five years in the making. There was a reprieve last year when Paul Atkinson became comfortable during the conference season and that opened up everything on offense. All they have inside now is a freshman, a very good freshman, but a freshman who plays limited minutes. There were several big man transfers last year that Brey could've pursued who are now playing well at high-major programs, and Brey recruited none of them, after zeroing in on one big man transfer and he couldn't beat out Virginia Tech for the player's services.
The reality is that if/when a new coach steps into the program, he will have these assessments of the team: you're weak, you don't play tough, you don't play defense, your fundamentals suck, and some of you are not ACC-level players, even reserve ACC players, so if you want to see playing time in college, you may want to transfer somewhere else.