Yes, Leavitt definitely helped Mac save his job. As far as not being built for the long haul, I guess that depends how you define that.
Defense definitely loses a bit next year with Tupou, Awuzie and Thompson graduating. We also lose Witherspoon, Olugbode, Carrell and Kafovalu although those guys are much more replaceable. Looks like McCartney comes back after getting a med red and as the year has gone on, the backups in most of those positions (Julmisse, Fisher, Oliver especially) have looked quite good with the exception of at DT. We are in on some JC DT recruits so next season's defense may very well hinge on that. A step back for sure, but how big of one remains to be seen.
On the offensive side of the ball, we return basically everyone except Liufau and our center. While Liufau was better than Montez this year because he makes better decisions, Montez has a lot more upside in that he has a stronger, more accurate arm and is probably faster than Liufau too. With nearly everyone else returning on the offensive side of the ball, I expect a significantly improved offense.
I also expect improved special teams as the team builds more depth and gets better young recruits action on ST.
I'm thinking we are an 8-4 type team next year, but one that could easily win 10 games again or go 6-6. I expect 2018 to be an improvement on 2017 looking down the depth chart. So again, depends how you define being built for the long haul. It's certainly not a team that's going back to 4-8 next year.
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