5 Teams That Have Taken the Biggest Step Back in the 21st Century

1. Miami

— Miami is first because it’s such a falloff from being so dominant and since they joined the ACC, a conference they were supposed to dominate, it’s been embarrassing. Miami has one 10-win season since 2003. They had 14 10-win seasons in the previous 20 years. And Mario Cristobal‘s first season left something to be desired on the field.

2. Virginia Tech

— The Hokies played for the national title in 1999 and remained steady under Frank Beamer. But since 2011, they’ve been very mediocre with losing seasons in four of the last five years. Brent Pry‘s first season was not much of an improvement either, losing their opener to Old Dominion and finishing 3-8 on the season.

3. Nebraska

— Nebraska was as dominant as any program we’ve seen and they remained steady even after Tom Osborne left. But they haven’t sniffed at a winning season since 2016 and that’s awful. The Scott Frost era was about as bad as it’s been in Lincoln in more than a half-century. But the Matt Rhule hiring gives me a feeling that things will turn around quickly. 

4. Boston College

— BC was actually pretty good back at the start of the century. They were a consistent bowl team winning around eight or nine games a season and went to the ACC title game twice on 10-win seasons. But after Jeff Jagodziski was fired for interviewing with the Jets, things have been bad. Since 2009, BC hasn’t won more than seven games in a season. That’s bad. Jeff Hafley has been milquetoast after being one of the hottest coaching commodities in the country, and he’s a potential hot seat candidate heading into 2023. 

5. Texas

— This wasn’t as cut and dry as you’d think. They were amazing up until the 2010 season with nine straight 10 or more win seasons. But since then they’ve won 10 games once and have had five losing seasons which is unthinkable. The jury is still out on Steve Sarkisian, but they’ve got the most talent in the conference in 2023, and the pressure has been turned up a notch with the arrival of the most ballyhooed quarterback in a very long time in Arch Manning.