re: The state of the program as it pertains to the layperson. (long)

Valid analogy that applies to many things including football. To answer your hypothetical questions:

1. Yes, you are probably doing enough to survive your evaluation short-term but

2. No, neither you or your manager are happy with your performance.

The main question is what happens if your performance doesn't improve? This is where the comparison takes a sharp turn. In your hypothetical case, you can probably be replaced any number of junior executives who might be able to improve on your performance. However, in Richt's case I don't see many viable possibilities. Many teams lose or fire coaches only to end up in a worse situation in terms of wins and loses. Change in this case means lack of continuity which often hurts recruiting and the bottom line. Also, we don't have insider info on success criteria that has been agreed upon in Richt's contract and through verbal exchanges. But considering McGarity's background at Florida, my guess is the ineptness vs ranked teams can't continue indefinitely. However, considering Mark had his first losing season in 2010, McGarity will likely see 2 subsequent 10 win seasons as improvement regardless. Thus the quandary.