northknoxvol
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Good question by a caller today.....can anyone name any coaches who turned it around and started winning in year 4 that did not have any success in the first 3 years?
4 head coaches in 6 years results in poor recruiting. Poor recruiting results in poor on the field performance. Not enough jrs and srs making plays right now. Can't build an sec roster with only 2 recruiting classes.
Don't compare it to other schools then, this is to see if other coaches have made such a big turnaround after year 3. And the answer is yes but it doesn't happen often.Tennessee is in a unique situation and it's very hard to compare with other coaches. 3 coaching changes in 5 years, Huge roster turnover, Toughest conference in College football.
There has been only one SEC Championship Game winning coach that didn't have one 10 win season in his first three years on the job. That was Tuberville at AU with a high of "only" a 9 win season in one of his first three seasons. So, if SEC titles are how you measure success, then no to your question.
Depends on what you classify as "any success", but Jim Harbaugh at Stanford:
2007: 4-8
2008: 5-7
2009: 8-5
2010: 12-1
In my opinion I've always viewed Jones' rebuilding challenge at TN similar to the one that Harbaugh undertook at Stanford.
Imagine if their fanbase grew too impatient with him in yr 3 after losing to Wake Forest in their 2nd game that year. They later came back that year with wins over Oregon (7) and USC (11). BTW, that team that lost to Wake Forest in their second game had the following players: Andrew Luck, Richard Sherman, Doug Baldwin, Toby Gerhart, Colby Fleener, and 3 future NFL O-linemen. Young talent that hadn't yet learned to win.
V,B
4 head coaches in 6 years results in poor recruiting. Poor recruiting results in poor on the field performance. Not enough jrs and srs making plays right now. Can't build an sec roster with only 2 recruiting classes.
If Butch wins OU (Oregon) and UF (USC), but loses to an inferior team (talent) like WF (Kentucky and Mizzou) that'd be comparable. Instead, he has already lost the two winnable ones, will very likely lose the next two games, and still may lose to our Wake Forests. 8-5 is a pipe dream at this point, unless the team shows resiliency after a 4 game losing streak they're about to be on.