if you look at the actual standings they had a guy in 4th and then nada for a long time.
occam's razor: if you have as good of recruiting classes as some of you suggest, then the coaching sucks if it almost uniformly does not actualize at a high level. some of you stereotypers seem to assume they recruited a bunch of identical kids in mentality. this does not exist.
my college soccer coach was a jerk who was gone after our junior season and would run off a good chunk of each recruiting class we brought in. we'd bring in some keeper i knew and played against in select who was very good and they'd suddenly go to unmotivated crap. they'd tell you between heavy drinking at a frat party they hated the guy. they'd then transfer out and play well someplace else. i am sure some superficial person could blame them for not trying or being soft.
runners at a high level are not usually super coddled or lazy. you can't compete at that level without an incredible amount dedication and work. i don't mean front of pack. i mean to even stay with the pack itself. lazy stereotyping.