Derek Dooley got fired thanks to his third year. Phillip Fulmer ushered in a new era of dominance. Throughout history, Tennessee football head coaches have often times been able to set the tone for their careers with what they did in their third year. That’s always the time to really start raising expectations on them.
Of course, some can give false hope. That’s what Butch Jones did in his third year. But by and large, if you look at that year in the context of the first three overall and measure the trends, you have a pretty good idea of how their careers will play out.