By year 2...

[McDad]

All of this is assuming Pruitt wants to continue being the head coach here considering the impatience of this fan base.

Puh-leeze.

 

[Vols410]

Doesn’t always happen that quickly. Here’s a look at Swinney and Spurrier.

 

[Roustabout]

I have heard some pundits state that by year 2 you will know if you have the "right guy (coach)." As I recall Saban had bubba in contender form in his second year. He had a mess to deal with, lack of depth etc. The barely able to speak Smart had jawja looking like Natty contenders by year 2. I am sure there are many other examples to cite across the country.

With this in mind, what should we expect next year? I for one will expect a massive leap, expect to compete in every single game and have at least 8 wins. This of course assumes Pruitt is indeed "the right guy".

Thoughts?

The thing is he started recruiting at a monumental level at that point. I don’t count this last class against Pruitt. This next one will tell us a lot.

 

[Quaint88]

Anything less than 8 wins next season will be a bad omen. People keep talking about what a mess Pruitt has inherited, but Butch had a much thinner roster to start with and won 7 games in Year 2 and 9 games in Year 3. With next season's schedule, anything less than 8 wins will cast doubt on whether or not Pruitt is the guy.

This. We replace WV with BYU and Auburn with Miss. State. It would take Dooley-level (and sub-Butch Jones-level) coaching to lose more than 4 games against that schedule. It's amazing how many people in this thread have already decided that's what we have. I wasn't thrilled with this crap-shoot hire either, but give the man a chance! At least see how we do from SC on this year before writing the guy off as a failure.

 

[SaintLouisVol]

i don't disagree with a single thing in this post. i'm not sure if it was meant to counter something i said or not, but yeah, in general, you're pretty much right on all counts here.

i think the disparity in the rankings has something to it, kinda like what you said.

and pulling it back a bit for a wider view.....the problem with being ranked in a certain tier in this conference is that you have 1/2 a dozen or more teams in the SEC every year ranked in or around the top 15. and the contenders are hanging around the top 7 or better.

so i'm with you on the actual ranking. i do think there's something to being in a certain tier. if you're consistently in top 12-15, it's going to be harder to compete with someone that's consistently in the top 3 or 4.

the closer that gap gets, regardless of the actual rank, the more competitive, generally speaking, you are with each other.

in the end, if you recruit a bunch of 4 and 5*'s and don't develop them while they're here, or hang on to them, it won't matter much. as we found out with our last staff. they were really good at getting that # next to our name in the recruiting rankings.

not so much at the other stuff. i think this staff, will probably do a little of both...........

It was not my intent to contradict you. I was just adding another point of view.

 

[jakez4ut]

It was not my intent to contradict you. I was just adding another point of view.

Gotcha.

 

[Biso]

He's behind UGA. Just like us.

Is he? Kentucky and Georgia haven't played yet. We don't know that UK is behind UGA. Regardless, I guarantee you that any person on this board would trade places with UK right now in a heartbeat.

 

[jakez4ut]

Is he? Kentucky and Georgia haven't played yet. We don't know that UK is behind UGA. Regardless, I guarantee you that any person on this board would trade places with UK right now in a heartbeat.

For this season? It long term?

 

[EZE]

How many teams out talent us this year outside those you mentioned?

Auburn for sure.

I would put WVa above us based on Grier and their D Line JuCo transfers, but not by much and certainly not by 26 points.

Florida is close but likely has a slight talent edge.

As for the rest. They don’t have a talent advantage based on recruiting rankings.

But, based on “how they turned out” rankings, I don’t know if we out talent any of the Power 5 teams on this year’s schedule. We have a lot of highly ranked recruits who are mediocre college players.

I only give this excuse for this season. If Pruitt can’t coach them up by year two and at least get to 7-5, I will have serious doubts.

 

[GBOVFL88]

I think we will see a marked improvement in performance and discipline, but the scoreboard will depend on CJP's approach toward playing young players. If he recruits well, which I believe he will, we will have depth. If he decides to play those freshmen early we will see mistakes, but talented splash plays as well. I don't think we will be contenders in the East because of the talent deficit that we are starting from and because of the other teams in the division. With decent teams at SC, MIZZO, UK, and Vandy we will have our hands full even with a much improved team.

 

[supersmo18]

i had my first real concerns with Butch in year 3. the first two years, i just wrote off to be honest. year 2 was better than year 1, so you move on.

but when we lost the OU and FL games in 2015, that's when i had my moment.

i haven't had any such moment with Pruitt. i don't anticipate having one next year.

i don't want to have one any year after that. but you absolutely cannot hitch your wagon to a guy that you know isn't the guy, just for the sake of stability.

it sounds nice to look at Mark Stoops and say "see patience is virtue"...but the fact that it took 6 years to get to this point for him is solely on the fact that he's Mark Stoops, not Bob, and he's at KY, not TN. so situationally, you can applaud th job Stoops has done at KY, and mean it. for them, that is good. for him, that is good.

but i don't think any coach can come here and hang around 5-7 wins a year, for 5 years and keep his job.

Agree. I’m just willing to be patient with this, as painful as it is for two reasons:
1.) Pruitt really did inherit a crapstorm, and
2.) I’d rather have patience to deal with giving Pruitt time to get more of his recruits in here than have patience to deal with another coaching search.

We should really see big improvement by 2020 at the very least. Notable improvement by next year, especially with a more favorable schedule.

 

[EZE]

Agree. I’m just willing to be patient with this, as painful as it is for two reasons:
1.) Pruitt really did inherit a crapstorm, and
2.) Is rather have patience to deal with giving Pruitt time to get more of his recruits in here than have patience to deal with another coaching search.

We should really see big improvement by 2020 at the very least. Notable improvement by next year, especially with a more favorable schedule.

I don’t think any rational fan is clamoring for 10-2 next season, but a winning season with a bowl bid against that schedule isn’t a stretch for a good coach.

 

[BeardedVol]

Doesn’t always happen that quickly. Here’s a look at Swinney and Spurrier.

Dabo also fired his OC and his RB/ST coach after the 2010 season as well. Spurrier could never consistently recruit well at South Carolina from 2005-2009. They averaged the 21st in the nation in recruiting, but it was 18th, 33rd, 7th, 35th, and 14th ranked classes, and even in 2011 still only managed the 34th ranked class. It wasn't until 2012 going forward that Spurrier was able to consistently get classes inside the top 20.

 

[WeeohdeeWood]

All kitchens aren't the same when you hire a new cook. The place may be well-stocked with fresh produce, meats, spices, and flavoring herbs. Some are not. The chef's experience notwithstanding, it will be the difference between your meal. Whether you will be served a dish rivaling a five star resturant or simple bowl of oatmeal. The oatmeal server isn't going to serve better until his food supply orders are all in place. His kitchen may be miles away in some secluded hideaway in Wyoming. Instead of the 5 star chef kitchen 10 mile drive from a meat plant and produce warehouse. Turnaround time is different but you want to eat right now. Truth be told oatmeal might be preferred but it'll have to serve until better ingredients arrive.

I think your trying say you can't make chicken soup outta chicken chit. You can but it taste chitty.
Gotta have some big mean lineman in 19 and 20. Gotta have some Al Wilson Leonard Little type players. We have no players like that on this roster.

 

[ptclaus98]

Anything less than 8 wins next season will be a bad omen. People keep talking about what a mess Pruitt has inherited, but Butch had a much thinner roster to start with and won 7 games in Year 2 and 9 games in Year 3. With next season's schedule, anything less than 8 wins will cast doubt on whether or not Pruitt is the guy.

Butch had 4 NFL OL and a senior laden front 7 (that went two deep on the DL) that was every bit as bad as the one we have now. Raijon Neal also got to the league, but didn't last long. If Butch had this OL to go with the rest of that team, then he would have been lucky to win 4.

 

[ptclaus98]

Dabo also fired his OC and his RB/ST coach after the 2010 season as well. Spurrier could never consistently recruit well at South Carolina from 2005-2009. They averaged the 21st in the nation in recruiting, but it was 18th, 33rd, 7th, 35th, and 14th ranked classes, and even in 2011 still only managed the 34th ranked class. It wasn't until 2012 going forward that Spurrier was able to get classes inside the top 20.

Spurrier finally figured out that to be successful, he had to recruit better in the trenches. When they started to tail off in 2014 and 2015 it was because he hadn't recruited well enough on the DL to replace the likes of Jadeveon Clowney. And then their defense started to suck out loud before hiring Muschamp.

 

[jakez4ut]

Agree. I’m just willing to be patient with this, as painful as it is for two reasons:
1.) Pruitt really did inherit a crapstorm, and
2.) Is rather have patience to deal with giving Pruitt time to get more of his recruits in here than have patience to deal with another coaching search.

We should really see big improvement by 2020 at the very least. Notable improvement by next year, especially with a more favorable schedule.

Good point on#2.

 

[bag12day]

No, you replace WVa and Grier with BYU.

Fair enough and after watching byu in Provo vs mcneese state last Saturday it's not a gimme. Wore my ut hat to the game and actually had some byu fans tell me we had a home and home scheduled. Had to juggle some vacation plans around cause of the hurricane and decided not to go to Florida game and stayed in Utah to scout for coach Pruitt. I don't think they are anywhere comparable but it's a game that I'm worried about already. They can put up some offense and well our defense????

 

[hardyemt_p]

I have heard some pundits state that by year 2 you will know if you have the "right guy (coach)." As I recall Saban had bubba in contender form in his second year. He had a mess to deal with, lack of depth etc. The barely able to speak Smart had jawja looking like Natty contenders by year 2. I am sure there are many other examples to cite across the country
With this in mind, what should we expect next year? I for one will expect a massive leap, expect to compete in every single game and have at least 8 wins. This of course assumes Pruitt is indeed "the right guy".

Thoughts?

Yep we need 7 #1 signing classes. That's all!

 

[Remy]

CJP if the UF game is an indicator will be hard pressed to win 4 games this season and will not likely produce an SEC win. IF he is the guy AND is really turning things around, next season, he beats everyone in the SECe except UGA and UF being a tossup.

 

[Offset Eye]

Getting this team to a championship level is going to be harder than lesbian nipples in a fish market. This is a multi-year fix.

 

[McDad]

Getting this team to a championship level is going to be harder than lesbian nipples in a fish market. This is a multi-year fix.

Lol.

 

[BeardedVol]

CJP if the UF game is an indicator will be hard pressed to win 4 games this season and will not likely produce an SEC win. IF he is the guy AND is really turning things around, next season, he beats everyone in the SECe except UGA and UF being a tossup.

That's not going to happen. UT isn't in a bubble where the other teams are stay static while we improve. USCe, Kentucky, and even Vanderbilt have been improving while we regressed under CBJ. Lock will be leaving Missouri for the NFL and I've not heard much about his backup, and hopefully Benny Snell as well, but next year isn't going to be any easier, and most likely our opponents will still have outpaced us. Pruitt's coaching is going to be put to the test in stealing one or two next year, that on paper, we should't win, and to definitely put Vandy back in their rightful place.

 

[TNHopeful505]

It's real simple to me. Our success is going to be directly correlated to how quickly our offensive line can get turned around. The philosophy for Butch for OL was quick, agile linemen who were recruited for a offense that created quick plays and didn't need to road grade or even pass block for long. Butch cared more about skill players it seemed than the lines, and seemed to put his eggs in the basket of the quick developing play that didn't require much blocking. So while we have had good WR's and even good QB's (I mean, Peterman and Ferguson obviously weren't total scrubs), and good RB's (Hurd was talented, no doubt), because our line could never give anyone time, we never got to see much benefit to that. Only when Dobbs would Houdini a play, or when Kamara would break tackles in space would anything good happen.

These OL were NOT recruited to play the style of SEC play that is needed. They weren't built in the ways that they needed to be built, they weren't conditioned in the ways that they needed to be conditioned, and they weren't coached in the way that they needed to. Take that scheme and put it in the Big 10 or the MAC or whatever, and okay, maybe. But not in the SEC, where you line up against some of the best DL in the country.

We need powerful guys who can create holes and impose their wills on people. Right now, Trey Smith is the only one who even has the POTENTIAL to do that. These guys can't pass block, they can't run block, and that change in conditioning and coaching and players will not happen overnight.

But once we get that OL right? We'll have a pretty awesome team, as long as we can continue to bring in playmakers at the other positions. Give a QB time to see a field, and give a RB a hole to go through and get to the second level, and all of a sudden, you've got a much improved offense.

I would LOVE to see what the line we had in 2013 would have done in this offense. Tiny, Fulton, Stone, Juwuan James, Marcus Jackson? Those guys, by the time their senior year got there could push some people around.
The SEC is won and lost on the lines. Until we get a line that can impose their will on someone, it's gonna be rough.

 

[TNHopeful505]

Pruitt recruited 4 OL last year, and has 4 more committed this year, with Darnell Wright still a large possibility. The help is coming. But that's the missing piece.