I don't understand this claimed 'downard trajectory' that is stated basically everywhere by a lot of people.
In the same time that Scott was at UNC (which, to be clear - I HAVE BEEN A FAN OF!), Scott went a total of 75W - 49L to finish with a 60.4% winning percentage (winning). He went 23W - 17L to fellow ACC schools, which is a 57.5% (winning) winning percentage.
In that same time Smith has gone 105W - 16L to finish with a 86.8% winning percentage (also winning). To take that further, he went 13W - 1L against ACC schools (including 2W - 0L against North Carolina proper) for an even better 92.9% winning percentage.
There have been 'bad' things about the program, but the results are still considerably positive. He had what I would consider is ONE down year in the 13W - 4L campaign that was directly after the Focus drama. This last year they still went 14W - 3L on the season.
I don't see anybody calling for Brian Smith's head at Mizzou. He has less wins and more losses than John Smith at Oklahoma State in that same time span and that is with having SIX of those seasons being in the MAC (90W - 17L for those who are curious... 84.1% winning percentage).
The trajectory is up. Had this focus crap happened to any other program, save for Penn State and Iowa, it might have been much much worse.