I'm not so sure about that, at least in the case of Texas and other blue bloods. The horses were there, if you believe in the STARZ rankings anyway. A great staff should be able to transition those kids in 9 months. You had Spring ball, summer "conditioning" and Fall camp.
Anyway, they scored points so there's that.
If you go way up-thread, I told you that Maryland showed a lot of improvement last season with a new coach and was poised to show more improvement this year. So there's that.
Maybe Texas will be OK, maybe not.
I'm really not a Herman believer, so there's that too.
Finally, Michigan was 5-7 the year before The Madman showed up, and he went 10-3 with the same horses as the prior year. OSU was 6-7 the year before The Urb showed up, and went 12-0 with the same horses as the prior year.
It's not like it can't be done. A great staff can get it done.