Mark my words, Tennessee will improve a bit, but they won't finish in the top 2 of the East. I can see them somewhere around 3rd or 4th. People are hyping up this recruiting class, but Tennessee HAD talent the last two years that Butch has been there.
See, what you are not factoring in is how incompetent Derek Dooley was. You want to talk about talent, our senior class this year consisted of the following:
Our punter
Our Long snapper
AJ Johnson(rape dude, kicked off before we started winning)
Justin Worley(starting QB, got hurt before we inserted Dobbs and suddenly become a functional offense)
Marlin Lane(Ran for like 200 yards backing up freshmen.
Jacob Gilliam(Starting RT, also a walk on, also had to play AFTER tearing his ACL because he was still our best option and he said fuck it I'm playing)
Justin Coleman(Nickelback, really good, big loss)
And....that's it. First thing Butch did when he got here was basically tell people there was a new standard with regards to toughness, academics, community service, and not being a shithead. Surprisingly enough players who were molded under Dooley's leadership often failed in one or all of those categories. We went from the school producing the most NFL talent in the 90s to a school who rarely had a high draft choice other than Cordarrelle Patterson and Hunter. Now, that shit is over. Team GPA has set records in back to back to back semesters. You get in trouble you gtfo. Community service is mandatory, and there's a leadership council that self-policies most of the problems. Some kids dont like it, they don't like being yelled at or told what is expected of them, so they leave. But Butch finds more talented kids who want to be pushed.
Now, was talent the biggest issue? Probably not. Leadership and accountability were. That is no longer the case. Butch has won everywhere he has been and I hate to sound like Saban but if you watch his process you understand why. It used to be guys working out more than required was an exception, now it's a rule, all because of how he has changed expectations and the culture of our football program. It's just a matter of time. We win eight or nine this year and we're preseason top 8 in 2016. Believe that.
Year one Butch was just trying to stabilize the shitshow he inherited. Year two he had to replace the entirety of both offensive and defensive lines, had no QB worth a damn, and were the youngest team in America while playing one of the hardest schedules in America. Year three shit is in place and it's about to get interesting. Our best players across the board will be sophomores and juniors next year. We actually may have depth. Our QB fits the offense and has experience. Our offensive weapons are finally among the SEC's elite. Our defensive line will be young but we've got two great edge rushers and can actually rotate SEC caliber players in. I see why people are picking us to make Atlanta next year, I just think that's a little optimistic. 2016 is our year.