Stagnation is a dangerous adjective, especially in college football. While a program like Alabama can get away with it since it is competing for national championships every year, most programs need to be constantly evolving and, if they have been struggling, there needs to be evidence of improvement.
For the East Carolina Pirates, back-to-back 3-9 seasons have left them in a bit of a holding pattern, as they search for the catalyst for a return to the days when bowl appearances and league title contention were expectations, not lofty aspirations. From 2006 to 2014, ECU went bowling eight times and even had a 10-win campaign.