Winning never hurts. This staff is big on relationships, too, and in many cases they'll have had more time to build better ones. They don't need to win the natty next year to show something, though. I can pretty much guarantee you the defense improves, that's almost a given with a quality hire to a bad team. The offense just has to pass the prove it test....prove it's not a G5 fluke. If he gets some of this speed to commit, he'll get enough highlight plays to sustain momentum even if the record isn't great.
The early signing day can help, too. This season's momentum will have already done a lot of work by the time we hit the heart of conference play next year.