https://www.chronicle.com/article/The-Professor-Is-In-Should-I/242924

Academe in some ways reproduces the American meritocracy myth of "You can be anything!"

The academic version: You can go to a low-ranked doctoral program and have an unknown adviser and yet you, too, can get a tenure-track job at an R1 university if you have enough commitment. They will have to hire you when they see how passionate you are about your research, right?

most people get only one tenure-track offer in their lifetime.