My Reaction to List:
USC is as obvious as it gets as it was a surprise, at least from afar that head coach Clay Helton was retained. His off-season got off to a good start as the Trojans have the foundation of a nice recruiting class for 2021, but can they win enough games in 2020 so Helton actually gets to coach those players when they arrive on campus?
Miami gets the benefit of adding a highlight making quarterback in D’Eriq King and that should help an offense that was stuck in quicksand for essentially all of 2019. It’s hard to believe that the Hurricanes have gone just 14-16 since embarrassing Notre Dame in front of a national audience late in 2017 while the Irish have gone 25-4 in that same time.
North Carolina’s case is the most interesting to me because of the points brought up by Elloit, their star-studded recruiting class. If they’re able to be a threat in their division and earn the right to play Clemson in the ACC Championship are we looking at the Tar Heels developing into that second force the ACC has so desperately lacked the last five or so years?
Virginia Tech is a compelling case for the sake of a coaching change. Justin Fuente has been there four seasons but has underachieved in what has been an average-at-best ACC. In four years the Hokies have gone 33-20 overall and just 20-12 in conference play while only one of those loses has been to powerhouse Clemson. It already seems late for Fuente in terms of taking the Hokies back to that next level.