We are back in the wilderness. He recruited for his system well here and found some real gems in the process. He might not be the flashy name that people on here are looking for, but he is more than capable for the job. I would rather take a known quantity in a great coach like JJ than sign up for five more years of some top program's assistant.
I attended more games than I can count pre-Benford. Yes the schedule was weak but we were also going deep into the conference tournaments (and twice winning it.) What difference does the non-conference slate mean anyways? We're not getting any at large bids anytime soon.
On top of that. As our teams got better under JJ, we started getting better home-and-homes (OK State, Tech). I imagine if he stayed longer and continued to grow the program he had flourishing, more and more teams would be willing to play in The Pit.