There haven’t been all that many
people who have been more critical of Butch Jones than me the last few years. I’ve
called him a gym teacher, I’ve made fun of his Butchisms and platitudes more
times than I can remember, I skewered him for his decision to hire offensive coordinator Larry Scott, and I’ve been outright calling for his job for at least the last
year. Hell, I wrote an article entitled “firebutchjones.com” two years ago
after he blew the Florida, Oklahoma, and Arkansas games. Whatever sort of
miniscule attention I’ve attracted online is due mostly to my criticism of
Butch as a football coach.
Which is why it's so strange
that I now feel like complimenting the man. I'd never take anything back about what I've written about Butch the football coach, but in fairness to him, there's no question in my mind that he worked his ass off for the
last 4+ years, and never quit trying to make Tennessee football great again,
despite the innumerable amount of back-breaking losses, as well as the fan base turning
on him in a way Vol Nation never has on a coach before. It’s hard to have a
problem with anything he’s done Sunday-Friday. The recruiting has been superb,
there’s been no major NCAA trouble, and besides John Kelly’s weed bust this
week, the Vols have virtually been crime-free since 2013.
Of course, Saturdays
matter the most, and the results aren’t close to being good enough. Butch made
his bed in 2015 and 2016 when he had the most talent in the SEC East two years
in a row and squandered it by finishing 18-8 with no division titles and no major bowl game
appearances. The man just doesn’t have the right skill set to be heading a big
boy program like Tennessee. With great talent, he’s an 8-4 football coach. With
good talent, he’s a 3-5 coach who goes 15 quarters without scoring an offensive
touchdown.
What is there to say
about tonight? It was reprehensible AND it still wasn’t one of the Top Ten “They just really Butch’d that” games. Tennessee outgained Kentucky by 84 yards, had no
turnovers, forced four Wildcat fumbles, won the time of possession 38:25-21:35,
and still lost. Brent Cimaglia missed two field goals, and the Vols allowed
Stephen Johnson, who isn’t remotely close to being passing threat (he only had 48 yards thru the air), to
drive 72 yards in 10 plays on them for the go-ahead touchdown. There really isn’t
any excuse for Tennessee to ever lose to Kentucky, particularly when they’re coached
by a gym teacher like Mark Stoops, unless Jesus Christ himself is starting for them at
quarterback.
There’s really only two
positives for Tennessee tonight, one of which is the emergence of Jarrett
Guarantano as a potential competent SEC quarterback. I’ve certainly got respect
for him after the beating he took last week at Alabama, but his play on the field was what really stood out today. He was
accurate (18 out of 23), he didn’t turn the ball over, and he was able to keep he offense
moving and sustain some drives. He definitely doesn’t have elite coaching, or even half decent coaching,
and yet this was the most calm and collected he's looked all season. His arm is adequate, and he’s definitely athletic enough to run the spread and hang with SEC defenders. Pair
him with a smart offensive mind and I think the Tennessee attack will be really
potent next season.
The other positive is
that there will assuredly be a new coach in Knoxville in 2018. The UT athletic
department seemed intent on giving Butch fifteen too many chances, but I can’t
imagine them sitting on their hands and trotting out Jones next week, because if they
do that, there might be only 40,000 people in Neyland for the Southern
Miss game. The fan base won’t stand for it, and the players know he’s cooked.
Nigel Warrior’s Snapchat this week was pretty damning. It’s time to make the
change. Hold the press conference tomorrow.
And when Tennessee does
fire Butch, please, for the love of God, don’t screw up and go cheap when you hire a replacement.
Open the wallet, target a big-name, proven guy with some cache, and spend whatever it takes to
get him to Rocky Top. Outspend everyone if you have too. Florida is probably
going to have a job opening as well, due to Jim McElwain’s utter incompetence teamed with his fake death threat comments from this week. They’re definitely going to be targeting a Chip
Kelly-type guy because they just swung and missed with a Butch Jones-level chump. Tennessee can’t afford to let them hit a home run with their hire, and then turn
around and pick some bozo like Colorado State’s Mike effing Bobo to head their program. If they think
Jon Gruden is the savior, then rain the cash down on him like he’s in a strip
club, and bend over and grab the ankles for him. Or hell, why not call Penn
State’s James Franklin and offer him $10 million a year? He made his bones
coaching in this state, and he’d win a hell of a lot of games if he came. And if he turns you
down, so what? At least you went down shooting. And if I could convince the Haslam family to give me the money, I’d be more than willing to drive a dump truck full of cash to
Chip Kelly’s house and drop the $7 million in his front yard. Does Tennessee
want to win championships, or do they just want more platitudes, more slogans,
and an extremely alienated and beaten down fan base that is resigned to the fact that they'll never see moments like this again?
Or this?
Or this?
Tennessee can be that
program. They’ve been it before. No more Dooleys, no more Butchs, and
definitely no more Kiffins.
Kelly-Helfrich 2018. Make
it happen.
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