I agree that we aren't necessarily at the level of Vandy and UK, but I'm not so sure we aren't closer to them than we are to the level we enjoyed under SOS and Meyer. God forbid if Stoops decides to cover the open receivers and they defeat us.
At the risk of waxing too far nostalgic regarding the Gator Brand, in my lifetime I've seen fluctuations from being owned by the Dawgs to owning them, 0-10-1 to 9-1-1, a "Sleeping Giant" to the NCAA Death Penalty (or thereabouts), three NC's and two Heismans in a thirteen year span to the Decade in the Wilderness where we currently reside. In my mind, our true brand was established in the span between SOS and Meyer (minus the Zook apostrophe). It's hard to keep choking down baloney when you've gotten used to filet mignon, despite the baloney we feasted on prior. Likely only championships (beyond the SEC East) will satisfy us, but winning seasons that includes wins over rivals, national recruiting relevance, and no big negative events that make the national headlines will help to whet our appetites.
I believe that however you define our brand, if it were not damaged (not dead, mind you) the question would not come up. In truth, my opinion on this subject and those of the majority of our fans doesn't matter; however, the opinions of the elite HS football players do. How we are held in that regard goes beyond the HC to a certain degree. As
@GatorJ and
@MJMGator offer, most of the kids we want haven't actually seen us win anything of substance. I'm afraid that gone are the days of the players who grew up rooting for the O&B and who would do anything to be able to play ball at BHG. We're going to have to win some games (more than just a few) that mean something and we need to do it in exciting offensive fashion while maintaining the identifiable trait of a stout defense (a little work is required here, too). I believe we can pull it off...eventually. I'm just not sure if it can be done soon enough (apply your personal expectations here).