He has had and will continue to have great recruiting classes. He does have to replace a ton next year but he has good tools and is way better than his predecessors.
That said, I didnt think this uofm team was nearly as good as I expected. I don't get the peppers hype - guy comes in on a few delayed blitzes for a coverage sack, fields a few punts and people want to give the heisman. He's undersized at LB, like Frey, but he doesn't suck like Frey, he's just a bit overrated, unlike Frey. I don't get it. Maybe there somebody who posts here that can explain why the experts are right and I shouldn't question Peppers' greatness. And Speit - to listen to Huard you'd think he was a sure fire NFL QB. His uniform was spotless because he was untouched all day and his numbers weren't stellar and probably misleading - he should have had 2 or 3 TDs. To be fair, I hadn't heard anyone talking him up before Huard gave him the full rub down and happy ending. Main point is, I was expecting a lot more from them, particularly on defense and I'm not buying the "Spartans got up for this game and gave 'em everything we had" because we still looked like shit to me.
Anyway, after watching them, Buckeyes, Clemson and Louisville I think there is a ton of separation between Bama and the next 4 or 5.