true measure. In this regard the success over the past 3 years is more akin to a Boise State than the others in that it clearly does not denote "elite" status..
I love the “everybody takes an assbeating” argument. Yes, in football there are those games that get away from you for whatever reason. It does happen to everybody. It happens to Kelly with some regularity against non-elite teams however. There is also little capital on the other side of the scale for Kelly who can point to zero major bowl victories, with all of them being woodshed moments.
Any comparison to Holtz or other pre-2006 10 win teams most certainly deserves an asterisk or some type of explanation, as the difference is a significant one. It is fine to note the additional constraints that Kelly is subject to as well. I do not discount those either.