Based on the feedback I hear from KU fans that do go to games, the general consensus is that they are not going to allow the administration to think that their bungling of HC hires and the garbage product put on the filed is acceptable. Not should they.
Hats off to any ISU fan who kept going to games when they stunk. Good for them.
It kind of sounds like KU fans are spoiled by basketball and expect rebuilding football to be just as easy and being good at basketball.
A good bball coach can rebuild a basketball program in 1 or 2 years. Look at Chris Beard killing it and quickly.
Rebuilding a football team takes multiple seasons. The difference being between 13 scholarships and 85. You can make strides in a couple years, but if you are building from almost nothing, it can take 4 or 5 years minimum.
KU restarting the process every 2 or 3 years kills any chance at consistency.
Now, all of THAT hinges on fans actually giving a **** about football, which KU is also not doing well at.
I'll give ISU in the 90s as an example. We didn't have great attendance before Dan McCarney because we had more than a decade of terrible football. The first thing Dan had to do was get fans to give a **** about football. That takes time but it's all about baby steps. Having a generational player like Troy Davis helped a lot. We didn't win a ton with him, but it was better than the abyss of football prior.
Dan was able to have some success, even if it wasn't always consistent, but he had limitations in where he could take ISU. So our AD went with a splash hire with Gene Chizik, who was considered a very good choice. He brought in some good recruits but had trouble winning without the level of talent he was used to as a DC at Texas and Auburn. He left for Auburn like a thief in the night and that was that.
Paul Rhoads was definitely more of a rah rah coach. He motivated talented players he inherited and the fan base and briefly showed us what ISU could be capable of. He was a lot like McCarney in the end and after a promising start, he lost steam.
But his efforts built the fanbase and gameday atmosphere to a point where it actually impressed the opposing coach. That coach was Toledo's Matt Campbell. He stated he remembered the fanbase and atmosphere at Jack Trice when Pollard approached him about the job. Matt has fueled that existing fire and taken the program to where it it now.
So in essence, it might be a 10 year, 2 or 3 coach stint before KU is actually decent at football. But they need the leadership to know what to build and how to build it for football.