Those who paid close attention to what he did with the hand he was dealt in 2000 did.
My first assessment that BB was the right man for the job was late in 2000 when it became clear to me that the 2000 season was about finding out who on the roster could play the way he needed them to in order to win Championships rather than using the talents that were on the roster to win the most games that year.
I have absolutely no doubt that BB could have run a 650 pass offense, and an aggressive blitzing defense and gone 8-8 that year. Instead he followed the blueprint of the kind of team he felt cold win a Championship, accepted the results, and assessed what he had.
Did I expect a SB title in 2001 before the season? No. But I was VERY confident things were going in the right direction and there would be one in the future.