I don't feel any of the doom and gloom you do.
We have done things in our absolutely terrible last 25 years that some teams (that we often fawn over) have never accomplished in their histories.
I was meaning 7-8 good seasons with Woody and then the reigns are turned over to Fife, not that Fife replaces a failed Woodson.
Those "Cheating" teams had cash money sitting around to be funneled to recruits and players, the old way. NIL let them do it in the open. I bet that dealer supplying that Porche for Tyty Washington wasn't spending his first recruiting money on Kentucky's behalf. Indiana doesn't have the already-in-place under-the-table shady dealers that spent the same money illegally last year. It'll take a moment. We aren't short of the resources just didn't have the pipeline or mindset.
I don't think we need a huge season 1, but (if players stay healthy) I believe it'll be a fairly strong one.
A Clowney commitment would have been a flip of the switch to 9th and we could add equal or better through decommit or the portal. We'll see.