Tennessee's Draft Woes Exemplify Butch Jones' Tough Rebuilding Job

The 2015 NFL draft was a monumental one for Tennessee in the wrong way.

For the first time since 1963, no Vols were selected to play at the next level at the annual event, with several—including defensive back Justin Coleman and running back Marlin Lane—relegated to signing undrafted free-agent contracts.

The end to the 51-year streak leaves just a few of college football's blue bloods left as the consistent champions of the draft, as ESPN's Brett McMurphy notes:

Not having any players drafted will undoubtedly be used by other schools against the Vols on the recruiting trail this year.

That's just fine with head coach Butch Jones, though. The dip in personnel in Knoxville was known, expected and indicates the massive rebuilding job that Jones inherited when he took over for Derek Dooley prior to the 2013 campaign.

"Jones and his staff had to do plenty of work rebuilding relationships with high school coaches and prospects in the state of Tennessee," Josh Ward, co-host of Sports 180 on WNML 99.1 in Knoxville told Bleacher Report."Top-rated in-state players like running back Jalen Hurd and safety Todd Kelly Jr. were showing minimal interest in Tennessee when Dooley was the coach.

"Jones and his staff did a good job making Tennessee more attractive to them and others, including defensive end Derek Barnett, defensive back Rashaan Gaulden and offensive lineman Jashon Robertson."

The most glaring weakness Jones inherited when he got the job was along the offensive line. Dooley didn't sign a single offensive lineman in his final recruiting class in 2012, and Jones only kept two commitments on board—Austin Sanders and Brett Kendrick—while adding one more in his first recruiting class in 2013.

"The cupboard was really bare when Butch Jones took over," Ward said. "There was talent on the offensive line when Jones first arrived - four of the five starters from the 2013 team are now in the NFL - but they only had one year remaining when Jones took over.

As former Tennessee beat writer Andrew Gribble (h/t Arkansas Fight's Doc Harper) noted at the time, signing zero offensive linemen in an entire class is next-level recruiting futility:

But four of those starters return in 2015, which should help the offense become more consistent and help the development of quarterback Joshua Dobbs, who's getting first-team snaps in a camp-like setting for the first time in his Tennessee career this offseason.

Stacy Revere/Getty Images

The draft drought is also an indication of just how scary this Tennessee team will be in 2015.

The Vols played more 23 true freshmen in 2014—the most in the country, according to its game notes from the season finale vs. Vanderbilt—and 38 of the 79 players (48 percent) who saw action last year made their first appearances in orange and white.

Those players included Barnett, Robertson and Kelly, Jr.—all of whom were named to the SEC All-Freshman Team.

Wide receiver Josh Malone (23 catches for 231 yards) has the 6'3" frame to grow into a true all-purpose wide receiver. Hurd notched 899 yards and five touchdowns as he evolved into the No. 1 back during his true freshman campaign.

Wade Payne/Associated Press

"The Vols aren't quite back to where they were when they competed for championships, but it's clear just looking at the roster that there is more talent, size and speed among the players," Ward said. "That's from the last two years of recruiting."

The absence of orange and white in Chicago last week was a direct result of the doldrums of the Dooley era. Jones was brought in to change things, and he will soon.

When healthy, star wide receiver Marquez North will be attractive to NFL scouts. The 6'4", 224-pound rising true junior has the ability to elevate his draft stock with a stellar 2015 season playing a position that's attractive in the pass-happy NFL.

Senior safeties Brian Randolph and LaDarrell McNeil will undoubtedly benefit from the Vols' veteran front seven, and draft-eligible junior corner Cam Sutton is one of the best in the business.

Tennessee's run of sending draft picks to the NFL was mighty impressive, and while all good things must come to an end, this year's drought was just an anomaly. The next few drafts will be littered with Vols who help Jones build the program back brick by brick.

Quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. All stats are courtesy of cfbstats.com unless otherwise noted, and all recruiting information is courtesy of 247Sports' composite rankings.

Barrett Sallee is the lead SEC college football writer and college football video analyst for Bleacher Report as well as a host on Bleacher Report Radio on Sirius 93, XM 208.

Follow Barrett on Twitter @BarrettSallee.