Jeff Tedford is a less nice Mike Riley.

I'm not sure what's meant by "square one" and when you say "back to" it has a distinct negative tone to it.  Whether that was your intent or not I don't know just pointing out how it comes across.  Fact is, the worst of the 15 seasons prior to the GA era would be better than where we're at today.  Stick that in the pot and let it simmer for a bit.   

I think you raise a point worth discussing, what should we realistically "aim" for? 

I realize asking for "realistic" goals on a message board from college football fans and expecting to get "realistic" answers is about as likely as getting a yes or no answer from an attorney who's on the clock. 

I think we can realistically expect to win 5-7 games consistently.  3 OOC and 2-4 conference games.  More than 7 wins is possible with great coaching, BUT great coaching alone will not be enough.  To get 8 or more wins we will need great coaching, good luck with injuries, a great system, a cycle of recruits fit for the system, some scheduling breaks(catch teams at the right time), and a few difference makers on both sides of the ball. 

It was really written to be aimed at the large number of vehemently anti-Riley crowd that suddenly is enamored with Tedford. I am a big Coach Riley supporter. Always have been. I just find it incredibly ironic that there are so many posters that wanted to do better than Riley that are pro Tedford. Same guy!

Ahhhh, got it and couldn't agree more. 

I also see lots of similarities, but there is one big difference too.  OSU wasn't just a coaching job for MR, were/are a lot of history and ties to the community for him  He had a passion and connection to wanting to make this program better and put everything he had into making that happen.  

But, MR had a much easier time getting recruits into school vs the entrance at Cal most of JT's career. Hence, what could JT do here?

I am not sure if that is accurate, baseball. It may be, but it may not. Cal has usually allowed athletes to enter into Cal if they can qualify to get into the UC system in general. The admission requirements for the UC system are shockingly low. In fact, in 2014, Cal implemented a policy that would, over the course of 3 years, require athletes to have a 3.0 GPA to get in...higher than many schools, but still not a ball-breaker like the bar Stanford sets. 

www.sfgate.com/collegesports/article/Cal-to-tighten-academic-standards-for-athletes-5874282.php

That policy was implemented because Cal had the lowest graduation rates for football of every Power 5 conference program and its basketball program had the lowest graduation rates in the Pac 12. 

The point is, I don't know if the data collected from pre-2014 at Cal would reveal that Cal had such high admission standards. I tend to doubt it. Cal has had rumored academic scandals floating around for years. I never play the "I have insider knowledge" card except for this one topic, where I do have (outdated) insider knowledge: In the early 00's, several football players were having their academic work done for them, at least as far as papers being written. I know a person who tutored athletes at Cal during that time and that tutor told me this. That tutor is not the kind of person who cares about impressing/shocking people and told me about it in the context that the tutor was shocked at the short shrift athletes were getting from the perspective of their education. I have no problem believing that tutor.

As it relates to Tedford, I don't' think he had too high of a bar set for him at Cal. I think it would be far more difficult for him to recruit at OSU than it was for him at Cal, at least while he was there.