in hindsight, are AU fans OK with malzahn leaving?

i would be OK if malzahn had stayed, but at the same time there was a point last season where my friend & i both felt he needed to do some soul-searching in the offseason. yes, the players were obviously young & inexperienced, but there were times i thought the defense played over their heads, only to be "rewarded" with an unprepared, undisciplined offensive gameplan, putting them right back on the field 'til they were totally gassed.

maybe we still would've finished 8-5, but there were some games i felt we could've been competitive instead of stinking up the joint. i thought we could've (note i said "could've", not "should've") beaten clemson if it wasn't for several head-scratching decisions on 3rd-and-short, none involving mike dyer for some reason. and despite what the stats say, i actually thought our defense improved later on in the season, but they were simply on the field a few minutes too many, mostly due to a sputtering, at times unimaginative offense. close games turned into blowouts at the snap of a finger, it seemed....

that said, the layoff before the bowl game seemed to work wonders....yes, we were only playing virginia, but the offense was finally firing on all cylinders, as opposed everyone scrapping & clawing in order to eke out a 17-14-ish win.

comments? maybe i'm crazy, i know....