I suppose I could have been considered a JPM defender in the past. It was not necessarily that I thought she was a great coach, but because I felt that the majority of the criticism thrown at her was exaggerated or unwarranted. There were quite a few other mitigating factors revolving around the program that kept it from achieving it's potential. For one they seemed to be hit with injuries to key players for multiple seasons in a row. But the main issue seemed to be her inability to recognize and deal with residual negative issues that she inherited from the previous coaching staffs relationship with the AD that hired her. When the AD left after hiring her, that animosity was projected upon her and she was seen though that perspective which affected any real objectivity.
Her changing her style probably is a factor for her recent success. I do, however, also believe that what has been overlooked is that through attrition, the people who had issues with her personally are no longer with the program. The fans and elements that have been working to get her out have basically given up. It is hard to succeed when people are working against you. I believe there was a strong self fulfilling Prophetic element at work in the programs failures.
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