The CheckerBoard

I noticed that about a quarter of the roster was from TN/GA/FL, so I have no doubts that he can recruit in those states. What nobody knows (and what scares some people) is whether his success at CMU and UC will translate to Tennessee. Given the track record of his predecessors at Cincinnati, I see no reason why he won't be successful at Tennessee. The program is in better shape now than it was three years ago, and there is a solid foundation and some depth to work with, which always helps get things moving in the right direction. And let's be honest - you'd almost have to intentionally try to have a worse conference record than Dooley had during his tenure.

I do think that his first year in Knoxville will be harder than his first year at Cincinnati because this is a program that has essentially forgotten what it's like to win consistently. There might be a player or two using a medical redshirt who was here during Fulmer's last season, but outside of that nobody on the 2013 team will have any experiences at Tennessee outside the Kiffin and Dooley eras. This first year is going to be about establishing a new team identity, and that is going to help determine where the program goes in 2014 and beyond.