Two and a half years is a pretty long time these days. E.g., I've lived in Baton Rouge for a while and remember that when Nick Saban came to LSU in 2000, the Tigers were in the toilet, coming off 4-7 and 3-8 seasons, and with all kinds of academic and off-the-field troubles among the football players. In just his second season, LSU rebounded to win the SEC title and the Sugar Bowl. And how long did it take Urban Meyer to clean up the Ron Zook wreckage and have the Gators on top? And to keep it in the family, Lou Holtz took over Notre Dame in 1986 when they were coming off a 5-6 season and a 58-7 loss to Miami and in year two had them in the Cotton Bowl.
It doesn't take long to right a sinking ship, if you know what you are doing. In our case, we have a program that is worse shape in terms of on-the-field performance than when Skip took over. Losing 10 of 11 Big East (not SEC or Big 12, but Big East) games? That is just ridiculous and gives me no hope for the future.