So whenever anything goes positive that’s all on him and whenever anything goes bad that’s not his fault? That’s the premise? It’s pretty remarkable that a coach that went 24-25 here and is overall 57-63 is known for being responsible for 50 percent more wins than he actually had. I assume he is getting credit for the final ranking after the bowl game and not for the part that led up to it that he was actually here for ( because finishing the season ranked had happened before)? Which is interesting because to date he has never won a bowl game. Other notable accomplishments by CWT that he actually had here and that do not arbitrarily start when he starts winning and abruptly end when another coach starts losing are being sub .500, having an almost unbeatably bad worst season record of 2-10 (before CJS said hold my beer), having only FCS loss since we went to FBS, having the first loss to UCF and having not a single marquee win.
I liked CWT and I would have been happy for him to have stayed and for us to find out what would have happened with his continued tenure but his time here started off disastrous (some of it was Skips fault and some was his) and ended much better. The decline of the recruiting class had started before CCS stepped on campus and I’m not entirely convinced that CWT had an answer for his departing class. I think CWT was smart to chase the money when it was available because windows of opportunity tend to shut themselves rather abruptly. That being said anyone that believes CWT was great had said we would see his record finally get above .500 when he got the FSU job and could finally shake his career of rebuilding. It ended with more losses and being fired for it.
People accuse me of romanticizing the CJL era but there is no more romanticized tale in USF lore than that of CWT. That everyone beyond CJL has been a complete failure allows the accomplishment of being average appear to be grand.