Knoxville is only about a three-hour drive from Atlanta, but it seems much farther than that now for an anxious fan base of a powerhouse program that hasn’t been there since 2007.

OK, they were there in 2009 for the Chick-fil-A Bowl, and 2012 for a game against NC State, but that’s not what we’re talking about.

The site of the SEC Championship Game, just 214 miles away, has eluded the Vols since 2007 and securing the conference crown hasn’t happened there since 1998.

The desire for Tennessee’s long-awaited trek back to Atlanta has led to the almost-annual declarations of a breakthrough from heartbroken fans that have seen their program fall short.

However, those fans aren’t alone in foreseeing the Vols’ return to prominence this season.

Almost everyone in SEC circles shares the belief that “brick-by-brick” comes to fruition this season for Butch Jones and Co. with two-win improvements in every season since Year 1 under Jones. Plus, the team returns 17 starters. Only LSU and Louisville have more among Power 5 schools (according to Phil Steele).

With that said, it’s all about the journey, and there’s value in seeing how far the Vols need to travel to complete their quest. We decided to look at Rocky Top’s slide in recent years after standing at the peak among college football powerhouses.

COACHES

It’s impossible to not start here because of what former head coach Phil Fulmer was able to accomplish in Knoxville and the uncharacteristic turnover the Vols have experienced since.

The Vols have had three head coaches over the last seven seasons. Consider that the program had just three head coaches in almost 40 years prior to that.

Bill Battle was at the helm from 1970-76, then Johnny Majors from 1977-92, then Fulmer from 1992-2008. That’s a span of 39 seasons.

That span doesn’t even include Bob Neyland, who was on the sidelines for 21 years.

That’s not to say that other SEC East schools haven’t been experiencing similar turnover. Jones, now entering his fourth season as coach in Tennessee, is actually tied with Kentucky’s Mark Stoops as the longest-tenured head coaches in a division that will have three newcomers in 2016.

However, those schools — Georgia, Missouri and South Carolina — had a pair who coached for 15 years (Mark Richt and Gary Pinkel) and one who coached for 11 years (Steve Spurrier) prior to their arrivals.

BEATING THE BEST

How has Tennessee fared against the AP Top 25? Tennessee struggled in a major way in Jones’ first two seasons, going a combined 1-11 against AP ranked opponents. The one victory came in a 23-21 win over No. 11 South Carolina in 2013.

Last season, the Vols rebounded to go 2-2 with wins over No. 12 Northwestern and No. 19 Georgia.

When it comes to facing top 10 opponents, Tennessee is 0-24 in its last 24 games. Its last win came against No. 10 Georgia in 2006. Just by comparison over about the same period of time from 1998-2006, the Vols were 12-14 against top 10 foes.

BEING AMONG THE BEST

Finishing the 2015 campaign ranked in the AP Top 25 was a big deal for the Vols because the school hadn’t been able to say that since Fulmer’s penultimate season in 2007.

The school hasn’t been able to crack the top 20 at all since Fulmer’s final season in 2008 after being there at some point within, get this, 24 consecutive seasons before that.

Tennessee actually found itself in the top 10 in 19 of those 24 seasons. That dates all the way back to 1985, and Majors still had seven and two-thirds of a season to coach before Fulmer took over.

VS. CONFERENCE RIVALS

Going into last season, a lot was made of the Gators’ 10-game win streak over the Vols. However, Tennessee entered last season’s contest against Georgia having lost five straight and 11 of 15 matchups since the turn of the century.

Of course, UT put a stop to that streak with a win last season, but overall the tables have turned with the turn of the century as Georgia still holds a 11-5 edge since 2000. That comes right on the heels of Tennessee’s nine-game win streak over Georgia from 1989-99, the longest streak for either school in the history of the rivalry.

Meanwhile, Tennessee is on a nine-game skid against Alabama and still without a win since Nick Saban arrived in Tuscaloosa. The Vols had won 10 of the previous 12 matchups.

Even Vanderbilt was able to take back-to-back wins from Tennessee in 2012 and 2013 after the Commodores had only managed two combined wins against their in-state rival in exactly 30 seasons previously.

WINS

That’s the name of the game, right? Jones is eyeing the school’s first 10-win season in nine years after the school hit that mark in eight of 13 seasons from 1995-2007.

Tennessee had been a model of consistency in the SEC. Actually no school, with the exception of LSU, has been more consistent in one regard.

The Vols held the SEC record for consecutive eight-win seasons with 15 (1989-2004). That was a mark only broken by the Tigers, who bested it with their 16th straight in 2015.

Tennessee had gone seven straight without one until this past season.

DRAFT PICKS

This may be one of the biggest indicators of Tennessee’s recent struggles, but this one will be coming to an end very soon for sure.

Incredibly, the Vols haven’t had a player selected in the NFL draft in two straight years now. Just to put that into perspective, the Vols only had two combined drafts in school history in which it didn’t send a player since the NFL draft’s inception in 1936 (1938 and 1963).

Tennessee had gone 52 straight drafts with a player taken, and every other SEC team has had a player drafted in the last two years.

The reason for this isn’t to make Tennessee look bad. It’s to make Vol Nation that much more proud and appreciative of the hole that Rocky Top will eventually climb out of before it returns to the summit.