Goat, I am considering gross talent totals. The last distribution I saw, the state of South Carolina produced about the same amount of NFL draft picks each year as Mississippi when you look at high school talent.
You explained away Clemson, but how do you explain South Carolina and their recruiting improvement followed by on field improvement? Their program has as little or less tradition than both of our programs. They essentially replaced UT in the SEC East elite recently though, and they have stacked up quite a few Top 10 classes, which actually started before they hit it big on the field.
Just saying that it isn't impossible to make a move. Sustaining it is the hard part, because you either need a coach that really likes your job and isn't interested in leaving, or you have to be able to replace that coach with another good one when he does leave, which is a challenge.
Oregon is an interesting one when you look at coaching changes. Admittedly, the Nike money played a role in their upward mobility, but Belotti built the resurgence, and when he was done they hired Kelly from within. Now that Kelly left, they've hired from within again. Point being, it doesn't take a earth shattering hire to continue a solid program if it gets going, just smart hires.