The changes made after the 2016 season were largely forced by AD Jack Swarbrick. Many alums contend that Kelly should have been canned after 2016 merely for clinging to Brian VanGorder, whose defense was an abject dumpster fire by the middle of that year. Kelly really should have fired VanGorder after the 2015 season when that defense surrendered tons of points down the stretch and handed over the Stanford game on a silver platter.

Kelly refused to fire him after the defense surrendered 50 points to Texas (5-7), 36 points to Michigan State (3-9), 38 points to Duke (4-8), and 33 points to Syracuse (4-8), among other terrible results. It is well known that Swarbrick forced Kelly's hand in making those changes. Elko was a great hire, indeed, and they lucked into a good hire when they promoted Lea after Elko bolted for A&M.

Kelly's own stubbornness in many cases has held the program back. Most visibly, it's his persistence in vindicating his own offensive system to prove to everyone what a genius he is (e.g., spreading the offense 5-wide and chucking the ball over the field after they have been running with impunity all day - even on the opponent's goal line, going for 2 when only 1 is needed, etc.).
[Post edited by VT2ND at 10/03/2019 4:47PM]