Maybe I missed it, but I haven't seen anyone say they know Pruitt is the guy. Just that based on spring and fall practice and everything in between and since Fulmer was named AD, I expect it to be better than Butch. Not really a stretch honestly... and even though I was in full blown dream coach mode as you refer to last year I don't think my optimism of it being better contradicts that either.
This is exactly my point. Whatever Pruitt's ceiling or long term prospects, he is going to be a better Xs and Os and player prep guy than Jones. Jones in game coaching ability was IMO by far his biggest weakness. I don't see that happening with Pruitt, he often made good defensive adjustments on the fly as a DC and has a much better gut feel for the game than Jones. And though I think it's exagerated by some, Jones was at best an average developer of talent and Pruitt will be better IMO. (some say Jones was the worst ever at player development...I disagree, and so do Cam Sutton, Dobbs, and Derek Barnett among others...plenty of UT players were not busts under Jones).
But yes absolutely Pruitt as a football coach, setting aside recruiting and program management, will be a step up from Butch and that will help us.
And so far, though his recruiting is not setting the world on fire, it seems on par with Jones' last couple years, and may well improve.