Yeah. OL should be better by default. Either current guys improve with coaching or it improves by raw talent. Skill will be there.
I'm giving him to year 5 for the finished product, but I do think 9 wins is completely reasonable next year if all goes well.
I'm definitely pushing hard against any "9-3 or bust" sentiments cropping up, but it is an entirely reasonable goal. Whether we hit it will depend on how quickly the newcomers on the lines adapt, whether any of our opponents are a lot better than expected, and just how the ball bounces in close games. Based on what we've seen out of Pruitt so far this season, I'm expecting either 8-4 or 9-3.
Stoops had a pretty good setup in Norman. John Blake was a good recruiter, even if awful as a head coach. He brought in Roy Williams and a bunch of other big time players on that 2000 team.
If we end up with 8 wins this year, I am not going to expect a huge jump in year 2 because I think we will have already experienced it this season.
If DWA, Warrior, Taylor, and Bituli stay, our biggest Q's are the lines, and with an offseason of getting bigger and learning the system, I could see Jahmir Johnson, Niehaus, and Carvin making big strides. Then Kennedy comes back and Morris and Lampley get in. I could see a lot of growth in the OL next year. But DL is definitely looking shaky, even if we flip the Eboigbe kid, or Logue, or the TN one that's committed to SC. The JuCo guys are gonna have to pan out, and that's a big ask, IMO.
Someone pointed out earlier that it will never be as bad as it is now for Pruitt at UT. What he inherited is the worst case scenario and he has an outside chance to make a historically bad 4-8 team in to a 8 win team in year one. Against a murderers row of a schedule. Next year we should be better at every single position. Other than DL. Which is obviously a concern but not crippling if we are showing marked improvement everywhere else. That schedule is Playskool material compared to this years schedule. Barring some awful injuries we should win 8-10 games. Come year 3 we are beating people up.
I dont think talent wise hes inherited as bad a situation as people make it out to be. But coming in and changing so much from a coaching standpoint is where he was starting at ground zero. Which may even be tougher at times, because you've got guys that got use to doing things the Butch Jones way, and now you gotta break that mindset. JMO of course.
I dont know. Our next 2 years of nfl draft may have no players, or maybe just a couple. My guess is no SEC program will have fewer.
That's why getting coached good at the college level is so important. Tuttle, Phillips, Taylor, Warrior, Callaway, Chandler, Jennings, Bituli, I am sure ther are more, all have the had the talent and ability to play at the next level. They've all played better this year than they ever have.
