By year 3 we will know the direction of CGC's tenure. That's different from how much time TStan/GT will give him because he has a 7 year contract (and will also depend on the buyout language/structure). It's also different from whether CGC wins any championships or not.
This staff is touting itself as a recruiting and talent development staff. As it stands today, we have a top 25 recruiting class (will probably end up top 30). If it continues to get better through year 3, CGC and staff will have accomplished one part of their mission. They will have checked that box.
By year 3, we should not be getting shut out and have our rears handed to us like what happened against VT. I said before it gets worse before it gets better. We were pretty bad after the Citadel loss, steadily improved over the last few games, then got our azzes handed to us by VT on Saturday. That's a big set back in the momentum we were building. In year 3, the majority of the roster will be "CGC's guys", and the staff will have had their system, and development take root with the rest of the roster. Honestly, I expected us to be a bowl team this year, but that was being overly optimistic. I drank the Koolaid. By year three I will have issues with CGC if we don't make a bowl game. Its about wins at that point, not fancy slogans, recruiting gimmicks, and hyperbole. CGC and staff need to show tangible results by Year 3.
The one promising thing you can take away, for now, is recruits are buying in. Go look at what our commits and the kids we're recruiting are saying over in the recruiting forum. We just received a historical beat down by VT, but a 4 star DT we have a good shot at flipping from 'Bama (ALABAMA!!!) tweeted praise and support for CGC after driving to Atlanta to attend the game.
The structure of CGC's buyout will be interesting, and I hope it becomes a moot point, but the reality is how much time CGC is afforded depends on his contract.