For University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football coach Tom Arth, it's on to the 2018 season and the 2019 recruiting class.
The Mocs' leader showed Wednesday what his staff could do with a full cycle of recruiting, putting together a top-five recruiting class highlighted by a school-record six three-star prospects and five two-star signees.
It was an impressive haul for a coach coming off a 3-8 record in his first season at the helm of the UTC program, a record that he, the team and the fans will be expecting to improve in 2018.
The Mocs seemingly made improvements on both side of the ball, in part based on what Arth called a "thorough evaluation process."
"We wouldn't go through the detail, the time-consuming process we do in evaluations we do if we didn't think it would yield great results," Arth said Wednesday. "That way, the offensive coordinator, the offensive line coach can feel just as confident in the defensive back we've taken because they know the process we've gone through because they've been involved in it.
"When a group of coaches, an entire staff is equally as convicted and believe in the players here as well as the ones we're bringing in the program, you can't help but be really proud of that and really excited for the future."
Along with character, Arth was really high on seeking players with high intelligence to fit into the offensive and defensive systems he prefers. It's why 10 players brought in by the Mocs received academic honors, including two - Boyd-Buchanan standout Kohl Henke and fellow defensive back CaMiron Smith from Texas - who have grade point averages of better than 4.0.
"We need smart people," Arth said. "We need people who have the ability to comprehend, the ability to learn and adjust, and this group gives us that. When you look at this class, we've certainly improved the roster, but more importantly we've improved our program. We've improved our campus, and I say that because this group of players as I look at it from top to bottom, we're not just changing position groups. We're changing our program."
Of the 24 players the program signed, three - Mississippi State offensive line transfer Harrison Moon, quarterback transfer Chris James and running back transfer Tyrell Price - already are on campus, and they'll get to go through spring practice, which begins Feb. 24.
The spring game is a month later - March 24 - so Arth will have plenty of time to evaluate what he already has on campus. This time around, having so many players returning who understand what he and his staff are trying to do can only help.
"When it's all said and done, we are thrilled - beyond excited," Arth said. "We're looking forward to going through the spring and seeing how the current team has developed, how we've grown, but then knowing that in the summertime we get to add this group of players is really exciting for us."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenleytfp.