Who Should Replace Butch Jones?
It seems apparent this is the last season Butch Jones will be the head football coach of the Tennessee Volunteers.
The environment for Jones after two 9–4 seasons wasn’t exactly roses this offseason, so one wonders if he’ll be given the opportunity to attempt a similar record, which is still viable, for a third time.
It’s also quite reasonable to ask if 9–4 isn’t a record Tennessee fans should be happy with, since the program hasn’t won 10 games in 10 years and a conference championship in 19. And frankly when Tennessee did win back-to-back conference championships in the 1990s it came when the division was much weaker than it is now. It isn’t realistic to expect the Vols to pick off automatic victories against the likes of Georgia, South Carolina, Vanderbilt, and Kentucky anymore, let alone Missouri, who the Vols lost to the first three years the Tigers were in the conference.
That said, it’s apparent the Big Orange fan base has just gotten sick of Jones. Last week’s lashing at the media to end his press conference didn’t win him any friends among opinion makers. He only has four years left on his contract and extending it beyond this year, a must as college football coaches need to have four future years on their deals to reassure recruits they’ll be staying, would not bode well for new Tennessee athletic director John Currie.
So who should the Vols next coach be?
First, let’s eliminate names like Purdue’s Jeff Brohm, Minnesota’s P.J. Fleck, and Memphis’ Mike Norvell. That would be soooooo Tennessee, similar to how they hired Derek Dooley and Jones from Louisiana Tech and Cincinnati, respectively. None have been at their current job long enough, and if you were interested in these figures, why not make stabs at Louisville’s Bobby Petrino, Brohm’s old boss, or Virginia Tech’s Justin Fuente, who built the Memphis program Norvell has enjoyed success with.
Yes, Petrino would be selling your soul to the devil, but it make take a pact with Satan to get Tennessee to the levels their fan base believes it should be at.
Eliminate names like Jon Gruden or Bob Stoops. Stoops isn’t going to take a job where he has to coach against his brother every year. Then again, if Kentucky were to beat Tennessee this year, the name Mark Stoops might be of interest to Tennessee fans, especially since Dan Mullen and Derek Mason’s stock has dropped in the past two weeks. Mason could restore his stock with another Vanderbilt victory versus the Vols in November, but by that time Currie could already have locked himself on to another candidate.
Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter, a former Vols backup quarterback, is intriguing and is a Peyton Manning favorite. But he also was once arrested on DUI. Then again, if we’re talking about Petrino . . .
Les Miles never should have been fired from LSU, but at 64 you’d be hiring a coach for the next five years, not 10. Why not try to lure David Cutcliffe again if that’s the age group you’re satisfied with?
Tee Martin would make many locals happy initially, but I remember interviewing him several times during his pro football career and I never got “head coach” from his personality. Let’s also not forget how he allegedly took $5,000 from a Mobile sportswriter while he was at Tennessee. You want another Lane Kiffin probation coming to Knoxville, the very thing that set back UT in the first place in this decade?
Chip Kelly also has similar hang ups, as he left Oregon in scandal. I also see how Oregon played for a national title without him three years ago and how the Ducks’ success is really paved with Nike money, much like Oklahoma State’s success if paved with T. Boone Pickens money. He’s most recently known for allowing Colin Kaepernick to take control of his team and then seemingly the entire NFL. Plus Eugene is a much different campus than Knoxville culturally and politically. This would be an expensive square peg in a round hole if Kelly is hired.
A name not often mentioned that should be is Brian Daboll, the new offensive coordinator at Alabama. Hiring a former Alabama coordinator has worked quite nicely for Georgia, you’d be hiring of disciple of some of the best coaching minds in the business (Nick Saban, Bill Belichick), and it probably wouldn’t hurt to have an Alabama insider on the Tennessee sidelines come the third Saturday in October.
He also wouldn’t be that expensive, something that might be nice after paying for all those buyouts.
Otherwise, the best options out there in my opinion are Fuente, even after losing to Tennessee last year, Cooter, or getting into bed with the devil and Petrino.
Truly, however, I feel only Daboll and Petrino are capable of taking Tennessee to the heights Vols fans expect.
Tennessee is a good program. It’s not a great one anymore. And if you’re upset with Jones because of record and not personality, you’re going to be doomed to disappointment in following the Vols.
Marky Billson hosts Tri-Cities Sports NOW every weekday from 12–2 p.m. ET on 1420 NBC Sports Radio Tri-Cities, which can be heard on TuneIn & IHeartRadio.
