The SEC East may not stay a punch line for much longer.

As Georgia, Florida and Tennessee return to being the three most powerful programs in the East Division, and teams like Missouri, South Carolina and Vanderbilt slink back toward the bottom, there’s a budding sense of normalcy.

Florida coach Jim McElwain won the East Division in his first season in Gainesville in 2015. Tennessee coach Butch Jones has built up the Vols “brick by brick,” and that program is ready to contend. And Georgia hopes that first-year coach Kirby Smart will take a still-talented roster and help UGA hold its own against those two familiar powers.

The Bulldogs haven’t featured a new head coach on the sideline since before 9/11.

Healing and newness could be a theme for the 2016 season. There’s Nick Chubb’s knee, true freshman quarterback Jacob Eason, a coaching staff in the honeymoon phase (a distinct change) and a role as an underdog of sorts. It’s been a long time since Tennessee entered a season favored ahead of Georgia, and that may be a welcome change for these Bulldogs.

As spring practice begins, we’re taking stock of the overall program in our annual “State of the Union.” Keep in mind that we grade based on the performance of the last three seasons, with an eye toward the current trajectory.

It will take time yet for us to judge and define the Smart era in Athens. For now, it’s full of hope.

on-field performance

SEC standing: Top third

Grade: C+

To whom much is given, much is expected, right?

Georgia’s record in the last three seasons is 28-11. That’s better than a lot of teams, including every SEC East program but Missouri.

This is also why Mark Richt lost his job. Georgia was the media’s East Division favorite in ’13 and ’15, based on a Media Days vote, and essentially a co-favorite with a South Carolina team that bombed in ’14. As Tennessee and Florida scrambled to get back to historical levels, it should’ve been a golden age for UGA. Instead, the team’s best season (since ’13) ended with a Belk Bowl victory against Louisville.

Georgia played a large number of one-possession games especially in ’13 and ’15, going 10-7 in those games in the last three years. Worse, UGA is 6-7 against ranked teams during that span and got hammered by Alabama and Florida last season.

Still, back-to-back 10-win seasons is not something at which to gag. A portion of the consternation stems from the unrealistic expectations every team now faces.

That attention now turns to Kirby Smart and the new regime. Tennessee and Florida appear back on solid ground, and the SEC West is as menacing as ever. But Georgia is going to need to win an SEC Championship at least once in the next three or four years, or else many will wonder why the team fired Richt in the first place.

recruiting

SEC standing: Competing with LSU, Ole Miss and Auburn as the conference’s No. 2 behind Bama

2016 rank: No. 7

Grade: A

It’s early yet, but there’s every indication that coach Kirby Smart and his staff will at minimum retain the talent level that UGA enjoyed during Mark Richt’s time.

Despite pulling double duty as a defensive coordinator and a first-year SEC head coach until Alabama beat Clemson in the College Football Playoff championship — an exceedingly difficult task — Smart signed a top 10 national class. Within that, he convinced quarterback Jacob Eason to stay, got five-star athlete Mecole Hardman Jr. to sign and collected a commitment from five-star tight end Isaac Nauta.

Now granted a full cycle in Athens, Smart flipped quarterback Jake Fromm from Alabama to Georgia. His six 2017 commitments all reside within the state. If anything, it could get more difficult for programs like Alabama, Auburn and Florida to snipe top talents from the Peach State.

Smart also hired some terrific recruiters as position coaches, including Arkansas’ Sam Pittman (offensive line) and Virginia Tech’s Shane Beamer (tight ends).

player development

SEC standing: Middle class

Grade: B-

Keep in mind we’re judging this based on the last three seasons.

There are two sides to this coin. People point to player development as the reason that Richt “failed.” And given that he pulled in consistent top 10 classes — sometimes top 5 — the end product wasn’t nearly as impressive as what we’ve seen from programs like Alabama, Ohio State, Clemson and Florida State.

Still, to point every finger at player development is an overly simplistic explanation.

Aaron Murray, Todd Gurley, Nick Chubb, Chris Conley, Malcolm Mitchell and Greg Pyke are among the offensive players that Georgia has developed in some part within the last three seasons. And whatever the situation was among the staff members, Jeremy Pruitt seemed to be turning the defense toward a good place by the end of ’15.

The Smart team of coaches and staff members needs to ensure greater balance. In Richt’s last few years, if the running game was going strong, the team couldn’t find a quarterback. Or if the offense dominated, the defense let the team down. Georgia’s got plenty of talent and depth. It’s important that this new group find a way to minimize obvious weaknesses.

facilities

SEC standing: Upper middle class

Grade: B

The team’s indoor practice facility is under construction and should be ready for use by January 2017. That’s the latest “necessity” in big-time college football, and the $30.2 million project will be top-notch.

That should give UGA a bump in its facilities grade when it gets completed. The team previously practiced in a small-ish Nalley Auditorium when indoors.

Sanford Stadium hasn’t gone through a major expansion since 2004, though the school did install a video board in 2005 and overhauled it for HD capacity in 2011. The Butts-Mehre Weight Room, which opened in 2012, is one of the largest in the SEC at 85,000 square feet.

Georgia’s facilities are not going to earn a place on a “sexiest facilities in the country” list — they’ll creep closer to that when the new indoor facility opens — but they’re strong enough to attract any five-star player.

coaching

SEC standing: Lower middle class

Grade: C

These sorts of big-picture judgements deserve context.

Richt coached at Georgia for 15 years. He won two SEC titles and six division titles. But the last SEC crown came in 2005, and he’d secured a spot in Atlanta just twice in the last eight seasons.

To put it another way, Richt and his staff weren’t elite. But over time, they were consistently good. Missed opportunities during the last three years didn’t help. But perhaps it would’ve been acceptable for a newer coach. It was just time for Georgia fans to watch a different movie, as it felt like 10 wins was going to be the ceiling in perpetuity.

Considering all the advantages Georgia holds with location, history, resources, talent and playing in the SEC East, other SEC coaches did as much or more with less in recent years.

But again, UGA won 10 games in back-to-back seasons. It’s not like the team totally face-planted like Auburn did with a 6-6 season in 2015. Richt’s bad was also his good, and he led a consistent, solid program.

There’s no guarantee Smart will be any better. But at least the unknown is exciting. This is a movie we’ve yet to see.