Four years ago, Georgia fired Mark Fox, a decision that didn’t stir up strong reactions. The Bulldogs finished 18-15 overall and 7-11 in the SEC, but in Fox’s nine seasons, the program only made two trips to the NCAA tournament. Its best performances — a pair of top-four finishes — came when the SEC bottomed out in 2014 and 2015. Patience was never in short supply, either, at what is obviously a football school.
Determining what you want your ceiling to be matters. The leadership in Athens decided it wanted to elevate it, and Fox’s body of work topped out at moderately successful.