Here's the thing. Year 1 and sometimes year 2 results can be skewed. A new coach can sell a program up and promise the moon, stars and heavenly light. However, on field performance has to match that. Players are looking at:
1. Playing time early
2. National and media attention
3. The chance to get in the NFL
4. How well a coach can sell the above
5. How well a coach can prepare them for #3
6. Facilities/Team Environment
7. Tradition (though not as important as the first three)
#5 is very conditional at the moment. We saw Jones could sell the program, sell playing time, sell the environment, but he just couldn't coach them up and raw talent shined over coaching in certain cases (Dobbs, Barnett, Kamara, etc). But the writing was on the wall there wasn't going to be NFL level production that often.
Pruitt can sell everything Tennessee has to offer, but whether he can coach them up to be NFL level remains to be seen. I have no doubt the past is prologue as he's helped put plenty of players in a position to succeed. But now he's the big dog and has to fight to get them noticed. Basically, players declaring for the draft from Alabama get a hard look from any NFL scout because they are from Alabama and have the championships and record to back it up. An equal player from UT has to fight for it since we don't have that record and championship experience (yet).
He'll get good quality recruiting classes from his first two years. After that, he has to have something in his folder as a head coach to show recruits "Yes, we can put you in a position to get noticed. Yes, we can help get you drafted like we did Player X, Y and Z. Look at our facilities, our record and what we're building here. Why not be a part of that?"