The volatility is mean reverting, but there is no time line to it, it can take a long time to revert. Volatility usually runs up prior to earnings announcements and then gets crushed after the announcement. The problem is that the announcement can be associated with a big move in price so it's not as easy to profit from the drop in volatility as you may think. Also VIX at 80 looks like a no brainer now, but at the time there was no way of knowing where the top was. Similarly it was a no brainer buying the stocks at the March lows...
Right, if VIX at 80 was a no-brainer... what was VIX at 50? And if you had gone short VIX at 50, would you have been able to hang-on through the draw-down all the way at 80?