There's no reasonable doubt that they threw in the towel before they ever got on the plane. The only question is why? ...(sic)... I think it's a culmination of all these things, and probably some other factors no outsider can ever know.
Probably no single thing, like you said.
But the staff clearly failed at building character and leadership.
Even at the most successful programs, a guy gets popped now and then for doing something stupid. But on a team with character and leadership, it doesn't spread and infect an eighth of the entire roster.
And when a coach is ousted -- even a ****ty one -- it creates a vacuum. But if we were instilling the right values, character and leadership would have filled that void and rallied the troops. We were not, so it did not.
Compare this team to the 2004 team. ****ty coach gets ousted mid-season following an ugly loss. Things looked bleak, but THAT team won their last 3 and knocked off heavily-favored FSU in their house. Say what you will about Zook, but that dude at least instilled some character in his guys, and you could tell by how they finished the season.
Similar situation, but night and day difference between a bad team with character and leadership, and a bad team without it. This team has imploded. It's about weathering the storm now.
I like a few of our coaches, but we need to clean house and remove all traces of the old culture.
I'm keeping an open mind about (most of) the players.