that's fine, except that Bronco whiffed on most lower tier recruits too. Talent evaluation is a big deal, but Bronco generally went with depth players with low upside to fill out his classes rather than chasing after the big fish who required real effort and not a slam dunk they'd sign.

If you're arguing that player development is a big deal, that's fine too. Sitake has little to no track record yet in that department

If you're trying to argue that good coaches don't have down years, well look at Michigan State, Notre Dame, Washington State, etc. There's a reason why BYU had the most non-losing seasons in a row. Sometimes, you lose your star running back, quarterback, and top 4 receivers and you're left with unproven players that get injured. That happens to all teams