Have had this topic percolating in my noggin for a little bit, so I thought I'd share.
So, for some context:
[I'm not going to count his first recruiting class since he had less time than it takes me to cook some ramen noodles to get it together.]
After Pruitt's first season here, he pulled the 12th-ranked recruiting class [per Rivals] after leading UT to a record of 5-7 [2-6 SEC for 7th in the SEC East].
His second season obviously saw substantial improvement, with the Vols landing [per Rivals, at the time of this writing] the 11th-ranked class after leading UT to an 8-5 season including the bowl win over Indiana.
For his third, fourth, and fifth seasons, my prediction is [made with great expense and at the last minute (that one's for you, @BuddhaVol)]:
Season 3: 8-4, regular season, plus bowl win for 9-4, finishing with the 8th-ranked class. Maybe 7th, but I'll be conservative. I think some recruits [i.e. Gilbert, Sewell, and even Washington] had high hopes that weren't ever really quite redeemed after the 1-4 start, despite the incredible recovery. For the third season, I think somewhat tempered expectations works in our favor and expectations are a little less lofty... so, when we go 8-4 and are competitive against OU [may even upset them], Bama, Florida, and UGA, I think recruits will take notice.
Season 4: 9-3, regular season, plus bowl win for 10-3, finishing with 5th-ranked class. Recruits will be seeing that the coach/program are for real, and seeing their friends jump on-board recruiting juggernauts' bandwagons only to come away with disappointing seasons [or at least not coming home as national champions] might persuade them to be a part of a program that is clearly on the rise. The "we're almost there, we just need you" pitch works, I'm sure.
Season 5: The team is chock-full of guys who have been able to redshirt or otherwise develop, and things click into an 11-1 finish in the regular season, with a win in the SEC Championship putting the program into the playoffs, and catapulting the program into the 2nd-ranked recruiting class.
Like he said, this is the decade of the Vols. I think he meant it.
So, for some context:
[I'm not going to count his first recruiting class since he had less time than it takes me to cook some ramen noodles to get it together.]
After Pruitt's first season here, he pulled the 12th-ranked recruiting class [per Rivals] after leading UT to a record of 5-7 [2-6 SEC for 7th in the SEC East].
His second season obviously saw substantial improvement, with the Vols landing [per Rivals, at the time of this writing] the 11th-ranked class after leading UT to an 8-5 season including the bowl win over Indiana.
For his third, fourth, and fifth seasons, my prediction is [made with great expense and at the last minute (that one's for you, @BuddhaVol)]:
Season 3: 8-4, regular season, plus bowl win for 9-4, finishing with the 8th-ranked class. Maybe 7th, but I'll be conservative. I think some recruits [i.e. Gilbert, Sewell, and even Washington] had high hopes that weren't ever really quite redeemed after the 1-4 start, despite the incredible recovery. For the third season, I think somewhat tempered expectations works in our favor and expectations are a little less lofty... so, when we go 8-4 and are competitive against OU [may even upset them], Bama, Florida, and UGA, I think recruits will take notice.
Season 4: 9-3, regular season, plus bowl win for 10-3, finishing with 5th-ranked class. Recruits will be seeing that the coach/program are for real, and seeing their friends jump on-board recruiting juggernauts' bandwagons only to come away with disappointing seasons [or at least not coming home as national champions] might persuade them to be a part of a program that is clearly on the rise. The "we're almost there, we just need you" pitch works, I'm sure.
Season 5: The team is chock-full of guys who have been able to redshirt or otherwise develop, and things click into an 11-1 finish in the regular season, with a win in the SEC Championship putting the program into the playoffs, and catapulting the program into the 2nd-ranked recruiting class.
Like he said, this is the decade of the Vols. I think he meant it.
