I agree with the goal

But I also see the goal a little different than I see the expectations. Clearly to me, 8 and 9 win seasons are not meeting expectations.

But I also don't want having a goal of a national championship to be the equivalent of shooting the moon. Larry Coker, Mack Brown, and Gene Chizik all won national titles, but I wouldn't want ND to hire any of those guys. If it's a national title without any kind of sustainability, then I'd argue that my definition of ND's goal is more nuanced.

Said a little differently, and I know this might sound sacrilege, but I think I'd rather have a program like Oregon that was constantly in the national title conversation morese than I'd want one title like Chizik. Heck, I'd rather probably see something that mirrored Dantonio's post year 6 than to have a program that was as inconsistent as Auburn. But I can understand those that disagree.

But of your list, I think Kelly stacks up well compared to Fisher, Miles, and Stoops. The latter being a poster child for how difficult it is to win any title.

But then I think the next question is how do we get there. I am still not convinced that Michigan, who made the biggest splash hire since Meyer is necessarily assured of winning the title.

There are 2 sure gold standards in college football right now, and I am not sure anyone is hiring those guys away.

The totality of Kelly's body of work is not enough. Clearly. But if 2015 becomes a baseline (and that's the most recent data point) then I think that provides ND the best chance at winning 2 straight games against the best teams in college football. Heck, our 3 losses were against arguably 3 of the best teams in college football last season, and 2 of those should have been wins on the road. Note, I did say should so it wasn't good enough. But for me (and I understand if there are different views), it demonstrated an ability to compete (although not finish) at the highest level.

I wished Kelly would mix things up defensively, because to my untrained eye, that was the primary obstacle in ND winning 2 games against the best teams in the country and being a 10-3 club. But Kelly is on the hook for that. I think next year bodes significantly toward proving whether 2012 was a fluke or whether 8 or 9 wins is likely. If it's the latter then I am fine moving on. But I just hope we have a viable reset strategy at that point.