Early in my years covering the NFL, some executive or coach used the phrase “it takes time to turn a battleship” when describing his team. For the life of me, I can’t remember who it was, yet that expression never resonates with me more than a training camp stop where you know it’s going to be a long season ahead for that team.
Sometimes these kinds of teams are purposely scheduled for visits in order to see what the ground floor construction looks like. Other times you show up and suddenly realize that a team has much further to go than previously thought.