VTTW Board Index

...Ditto for UCLA.  Hart, make it happen. :bird:

Don't know that 3 years is long enough.

It is.  Doesn't mean it WILL be, but it is.  If Butch keeps recruiting the way he has so far, then definitely possible.

3 years gives you juniors for starters and sophomores/rs freshmen for depth. That is not going to get it on the national/SEC stage. I think we can compete better in 3 years but win the SEC or make the 4 team playoff......no.

Like most of us I have watched a lot of ball for a lot of years at all levels in a lot of different sports. The one constant I have noticed is that the teams with the older more experienced players across the board are the ones who win.  That is not to say freshmen can't step in and be good players, they absolutely can, but they need to be the exception and not counted on at every position.

In the context of the original quote, we would have a shot at beating Oregon in 3 years IMO.  This is also factoring in that THEY might not be that good.  Or think of it this way, my hope is that in three years we could beat anyone on a given day.  I do think that's possible.

I don't see us competing for the NC, but hopefully we will at least be a contender for the SEC.  I certainly don't see it happening this year and probably not next.

Assuming that Butch is the coach we hope he is, and assuming he continues to recruit like this (and those are admittedly big assumptions), I would expect to be contending on a national level by then.  That will be year four of the Jones regime.  Next year, we'll see improvement in our offensive skill talent, but will lose probably our entire OL and our entire front 7 on D.  We're going to struggle next year too, so brace yourselves for it.  2015 is the year we should start to make great strides at every position group, and by 2016, I would expect to be completely rebuilt.  

I think Butch's biggest challenge right now is an intangible one:  These players don't know HOW to win.  I know that's a cliche in sports, but it's true.  I like to point to the 93-94 Bulls- the team that played the entire season without Jordan, while he was off playing baseball.  If you go by talent, that team had no business winning even 30 games.  But they won 50+ and made it to the Eastern Conference finals.  Why?  Because they had been there before, and they knew what it took to get back, even without the greatest player of all time.  Heck, you can even look at our 98 NC team.  They lost guys like Manning, Little, Brown, and Nash.  While no one thought they would drop off the map entirely, everyone expected them to take a step back.  Then they lost Jamal Lewis in the 3rd game of the year.  But they had a winner's mentality, and look how far that took them.  

People like to compare this team to Dooley's first.  Both were/are woefully thin at many positions, both lack talent and experience.  But Dooley had one big advantage with that squad- they had a lot of guys who had competed at the top of the SEC, and even played in the SECC.  Butch doesn't have a single player on this roster who has experienced success at this level.  Don't ever underestimate the importance of that.  These guys right now have a loser's mentality.  That may sound harsh, but it's true.  And that's a problem that can partially be overcome psychologically, but mostly it's going to take 2-3 more years of solid recruiting.  

They will learn to win.  Jones just needs to keep recruiting at the level it is (so far) for 2014.  Even a mediocre coach can win with great talent.

have been signed, sealed and delivered. You know how kids change their minds and play coaches. Just have to wait and see.

On that end I have to think that these players will stay more true to their pledge than many times we have seen.  These players eat drink and tweet their love of the Orange and UT.  It is amazing to me to see the players that are repping UT and Jones to the other recruits.  I think this class will maybe lose one or two or three at the most of the committed individuals.