The Great Smoky Mountain Journal

Staff Reports

Posted: Sunday, January 21, 2018 07:22 PM
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Butch Jones Fired By Univeristy of Tennessee; Brady Hoke To Coach Team For Final Two Games Of 2017
Tennessee, winless this season in SEC play, has fired fifth-year coach Butch Jones with two games left in the regular season.

"Late [Saturday] night, it was evident this was probably the direction we needed to go for the best of all concerned," Tennessee athletic director John Currie said Sunday at a news conference. "We wanted our student-athletes to have the best possible chance for success. We want Coach Jones and his family to be treated with the dignity and respect that they deserve.

"We want to be able to focus, from my perspective, on the search going forward."

Defensive line coach Brady Hoke will serve as the Volunteers' interim head coach.

On Saturday, Tennessee was blown out 50-17 at Missouri for the Vols' fifth loss in their past six games. Two weeks ago, they lost at Kentucky, marking only their second loss to the Wildcats in the past 33 years.

Currie said he was looking for someone "with the highest integrity and character, with the skills and vision to propel Tennessee to championships."

"We expect our coach to have the dynamics that would enable him to lead us to where we know Tennessee football can and should be," Currie said. "Our coach needs to know what that looks like."

The news of Butch Jones' firing as Tennessee head coach on Sunday has severly impacted the Volunteers' incoming recruiting class, with four prospects decommitting the same day.

Who should Tennessee hire to replace Butch Jones?
Now that Butch Jones is out at Tennessee, where do the Vols go from here? Jon Gruden and Chip Kelly will be on every fan's wish list, but is it realistic? We look at the state of the Vols and whom they could go after, and offer our recommendation.

Who's hot, who's not: Resetting the coaching carousel

The SEC is keeping the coaching carousel spinning. What's the latest on Florida and Tennessee coaching searches, and what jobs could be next to open around the country? We examine every aspect of the coaching carousel before it takes another big turn.

The Vols' next coach will be Tennessee's fifth head coach in the past 11 years. That's after Tennessee went 32 years with just two head coaches: John Majors and Phillip Fulmer.

Jones guided Tennessee to back-to-back nine-win seasons in 2015 and 2016 but was just 3-9 in his past 12 SEC games dating back to last season. His overall record at Tennessee was 34-27.

Jones' contract runs through March 2021. His buyout is around $8 million because he is owed $2.5 million per year remaining on his deal. That buyout will be mitigated by whatever salary he might earn in a new coaching job. Jones was making $4.11 million per year at Tennessee.

The backlash among fans had been rising this season but really ratcheted up after a 41-0 home loss to Georgia on Sept. 30, the Vols' most lopsided loss in Neyland Stadium history.

Tennessee was one of just three SEC teams to win at least nine games during the 2015 and 2016 seasons. But during an injury-plagued 2016 season, the Vols did not capitalize on early season wins over Florida and Georgia and lost games to South Carolina and Vanderbilt late in the season to squander a chance to play in their first SEC championship game since 2007, Fulmer's next-to-last season.