been his problem to this point.
IMO, us beating more highly ranked teams under MF points to his upside while losing to lesser teams points to his inexperience. Having IT as a HC is something you either do or you don't, but experience only comes with time.
I was against the Freeman hire and I'm still against hiring HCs without prior experience in principle. However, there's that lightning strike exception to every rule. I don't think we really know yet if MF is that exception, but the arrow is pointing in the right direction and if he wins 12-14+ in only his third year I'll feel pretty confident that we have The Guy.
So yes, the total number of wins does matter, plus keep playing up against top teams while reducing letdowns vs lesser opponents, and continuing to improve recruiting cycle upon cycle...then you turn the corner as a dominant program and break through into the top tier.