I mean no disrespect to those people in the marching band. I'm sure they are talented musicians, but like you said it's pretty apparent in terms of the end product that there isn't a whole lot investment put into it, probably from directors but it cascades down.
I remember in middle school when I was in band going on field trips to the UW to see their marching band. I could tell from the few BYU games I attended and looking back on middle school field trips to UW that there was a distinctive difference in the level of time and energy put in by the members of UW band compared to BYU's.