This thread is already derailed so I'll just add to it:
I had a convo this morning about elite programs on auto-pilot. The best of the very best, year after year, have a great coach, top 20 recruiting every year, and the attrition is minimal in regards to sending shockwaves through a program. These teams are few and far between.
A team like ND seems on the cusp, but just can't get out of it's own way. And those negative occurrences have absolutely destroyed the chances of this program being on auto-pilot in year five under BK. Elite decommits, transfers, suspensions, early departures...most programs don't seem to go through these things with the consistency that ND has recently. I'm sure there are examples, but the elite programs rarely go through this much turmoil every year. It makes it really hard to build and sustain a program that can compete in the top ten every year. Going back to 2011, I see no reason ND couldn't have been a 10+ team every year. But two turnover-plagued seasons, suspensions, major injuries, early departures, etc have gotten in the way. 2011, 2013, and now 2014 are all seasons that should have had better records, but it just didn't happen.
In my conversation this morning, I mentioned IU basketball (I grew up on Coach Knight and that program). Tom Crean will most likely not get that team to a perennial power because he can't keep guys there long enough to build any sort of maturity within his program. Coach Calipari is probably the only coach that is in the position to lose multiple difference makers every year and just reload with multiple McDonalds All-Americans the next year and not miss a beat. It's just not the norm to have a program be able to withstand that many elite departures and still maintain a level of competitive consistency. I truly feel BK is in this boat where ND just can't seem to keep the elite players from either transferring, leaving for the NFL, or getting suspended. And that's killing this program. Just like it's killing Tom Crean. MSU, Duke, Kansas, OSU, Louisville...these are a few examples of powerhouse teams that are somehow able to keep kids around for a few years. Sure, every program goes through early departures and transfers. But keeping it to a minimum and keeping it from happening every year is the key. ND needs to get out of its own way and find a way to keep more of these kids on the roster long term. The program as a whole depends on it.