By year 2...

#128
#128
ptclaus98 said:
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.
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Bullard, Stone and James have been successful at the next level. Tiny was a bust in the NFL (and, honestly, failed to live-up to the hype when he was here). Time will tell whether or not we have 3 (or more) future NFL OL on the team now. I certainly hope so, because if we don't then Pruitt and his coaching staff aren't as good as we have hoped they'd be.

My point is that we were thinner overall talent-wise in Butch's first 2 seasons. As an example from your post, I don't think any of us believes that Pruitt would trade our current crop of RBs for Raijon Neal and Co. from Butch's first 2 seasons.
 
#130
#130
Hacksaw said:
Bullard, Stone and James have been successful at the next level. Tiny was a bust in the NFL (and, honestly, failed to live-up to the hype when he was here). Time will tell whether or not we have 3 (or more) future NFL OL on the team now. I certainly hope so, because if we don't then Pruitt and his coaching staff aren't as good as we have hoped they'd be.

My point is that we were thinner overall talent-wise in Butch's first 2 seasons. As an example from your post, I don't think any of us believes that Pruitt would trade our current crop of RBs for Raijon Neal and Co. from Butch's first 2 seasons.
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In all fairness Tiny was a bust because he had terrible knees.
 
#131
#131
gasguy98 said:
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?
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I'd say that's a fair assessment.
 
#132
#132
WoodsmanVol said:
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.

Sure road is presently dark
And you can no longer see
Just let the process throw a spark
And have a little faith in he
This Pruitt fellow even if you cry
Just keep believing or at least try
And have a little faith in he
That Pruiitt fellow, you'll see
Have a little faith in he
Have a little faith in he
Have a little faith in he
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You are a true Volunteer sir, but you must admit that your words come from a secret source which is no longer hidden from view.. Please reveal
 
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#133
#133
I think we will see some improvement next year. We should be able to win about 6 games. This whole notion about knowing whether a coach is the "right" guy by year 2 is ridiculous. Its a blanket statement that doesnt take into account the situations a coach walks into. Now, if every coach walked into the exact same situations, then that statement would be valid. But we all know thats not the case.

I think we wont see major, significant improvement (well that many fans expect) until year 4. Then in year 5, I believe the big jump into double digit wins will happen.
 
#134
#134
daddyskunk said:
You are a true Volunteer sir, but you must admit that your words come from a secret source which is no longer hidden from view.. Please reveal
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He's ripping off lyrics from some show called "Nashville"...

woodsmanvolisahack.png
 
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#136
#136
bag12day said:
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????
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I don’t think we can look past any decent program at this point, and definitely not BYU. But, BYU will not be as good as WVa.
 
#137
#137
EZE said:
It wasn’t me.
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I didn't say it was you.

We go through this cycle literally, every off-season. Expectations go through the roof, regardless of reality, and then come crashing back to earth.

If we'd just come off an 8-4 or 9-3 season, where we lost to our opponents by 2 scores or less, and were returning most of our starters, then that sort of optimism is warranted.

But after UT's worst season in school history, we had people making 9,10,11 win predictions, and by the week before the first game, were already looking past Florida as an automatic win, with little thought to getting past WVU.

The "realistic" fans end up in the minority by the week prior to the season's start.
 
#138
#138
I really wish people would stop using Saban and Smart as examples when talking about coaching success. Its ridiculous.
 
#139
#139
I am expecting a Super Bowl appearance by next season..

all kidding aside, this roster has long way to go. I don't see us magically fielding a team to seriously compete. We lack so much talent on the O and D Line it will take quite a bit of work to be respectable again.

I look at our slightly talented players such as Tuttle, Kyle Phillips, Nigel Warrior, D Kirkland, J Jennings are all probably going to make an attempt to the NFL, even if it ends up being late round pick. We will have to replace them and also add an influx more additional talent accross the board...that doesn't take an off-season. Bowl eligbility will be the goal next year too...a lofty one at that.
 
#140
#140
Finish no worse than 3rd in the SEC East. We cant compete with Georgia for another several years and that's assuming we have phenomenal recruiting classes.
 
#141
#141
gasguy98 said:
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?
Click to expand...

What have you seen so far to indicate that we take a “massive leap” next year? We’re in week 4. There’s way too many games to be played before we start talking about how good we’ll be next year. JG might just be a pile of dust by the end of the year for all we know.
 
#142
#142
I'm gonna focus on one game at a time and see how we progress before making a 5 yr plan for the future, lots of things change, lots of things get better that we didn't expect, as well as some misfortunes, let's hope CJP has good fortune and is as good a football guy as he seems, I believe he is, I got wary of CBJ early but wouldn't admit it even to myself, but I sure like our direction and our coach's blueprint and honest pressers much better
 
#144
#144
gasguy98 said:
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?
Click to expand...

Here is the simple truth. Since the SEC added a championship game in 93, 12 different coaches have won it. 11 of those coaches made it to the championship game by their third year (12 if your count Saban’s teams at LSU then Bama), Fulmer is the only coach to win it after not making it in 3 years (he took 5). Of those 12 (Saban counting twice) Stallings, DuBose, and Miles are the only coaches to take 3 years to get there.

If Pruitt has a good system and can really connect with players then the Butch recruits will buy in by the beginning of next season. If that doesn’t happen then we’ll see a lot of them transfer and quit and know that Pruitt isn’t the right guy.
 
#145
#145
gasguy98 said:
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?
Click to expand...

I agree with the pundits . I have looked at the course that may 'rebuilds' have taken. The general tendency is to take a step backward , hold the line , or move forward slightly in year one . In year two the successful rebuilds wove forward quite a bit in tear two

To look at Saban at Bama is a pipe dream . He had instant access to prenominal recruiting there ...mostly in state and a better roster to start with. Also the SEC was not what it is today . I think looking at what he did with an 0-11 Michigan State team is a better model . There was a large improvement initially , and then a more moderated improvement. It was similar at LSU . He definitely improved them , but it was a bit more of struggle than at Bama. It is going to be a combination of coaching and recruiting. We will have two exceptionally good teams on our schedule , and one to three next level teams . We don't have the insane in-state recruiting that Bama had at that time or even what Kirby enjoys at UGA , so I would temper my expectation. If we win 4 this season , I would expect 7 to 8 next.
 
#146
#146
By year two we should see the direction CP is taking the team-it will not take five years (as so many wanted for boy butch-and got), SEC championship, not likely; however, we should be Much Improved over this year. Based on what CP was given to start with, that will be a good thing.
 
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#147
#147
gasguy98 said:
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?
Click to expand...
You can expect anything, but I wouldn't be expecting any miracles. You can only do so much in 1 year and to expect it to completely turn around in 1 year is unrealistic. Could it happen? Sure. Expect it? I think we're reaching. Yeah, I do expect improvement but an 8 win season? I would be pleasantly surprised.
 
#149
#149
I believe the scholarship number rule, greatly helped Saban. The talent was not as deep but the first teams were still talented when Saban took over.

Smart inherited a winning football team.
 
#150
#150
Hacksaw said:
Bullard, Stone and James have been successful at the next level. Tiny was a bust in the NFL (and, honestly, failed to live-up to the hype when he was here). Time will tell whether or not we have 3 (or more) future NFL OL on the team now. I certainly hope so, because if we don't then Pruitt and his coaching staff aren't as good as we have hoped they'd be.

My point is that we were thinner overall talent-wise in Butch's first 2 seasons. As an example from your post, I don't think any of us believes that Pruitt would trade our current crop of RBs for Raijon Neal and Co. from Butch's first 2 seasons.
Click to expand...
I could absolutely believe that he would trade. Raijon was a good college back. Just go back to the run he had vs Auburn. You think any of our backs can do that against even this Auburn team? He was better than Chandler is now, and Lane was much much better than Tim Jordan is.
 
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