Butch Jones' comments on College GameDay are certain to anger Tennessee Vols fans
Former Tennessee Vols head coach Butch Jones is pretty much universally disliked by the UT fan base. He had some good moments at Tennessee — like the wins against Georgia in 2015/2016 and the win against Florida in 2016 — but most of his time in Knoxville was a disaster. By the end of Jones' […]
Former Tennessee Vols head coach Butch Jones is pretty much universally disliked by the UT fan base.
He had some good moments at Tennessee — like the wins against Georgia in 2015/2016 and the win against Florida in 2016 — but most of his time in Knoxville was a disaster.
By the end of Jones' tenure at UT, there was finger-pointing, lots of lies, and a lot of lopsided losses.
When the Vols finally fired Jones, they sent him away with a lucrative buyout (north of $8 million) that was paid in monthly installments from the time he was fired until February 2021.
The buyout was to be mitigated by any salary he made from working as a coach at another program.
So what did Jones do?
He made sure he got nearly every dime of the buyout by taking a low-paying job as a quality control assistant at Alabama. He also worked as the "assistant to the head coach (Nick Saban)".
When Tennessee finished Jones' buyout payments, he decided it was time to move on from Alabama (after three seasons) and get a real job. That's when he took over as the head coach at Arkansas State.
During an interview on ESPN's College GameDay this past weekend, Jones was asked about the salary discrepancy. And his smirk while replying tells you all that you need to know.
That's a man who clearly has no shame. I'm sure there are some out there who will say it was a smart move, but most coaches have a bit more pride than that. It's why you see guys immediately jump to another job or try to catch on as a coordinator somewhere.
Instead, Jones continued to work at Alabama — making copies or whatever he was doing — and passing up jobs (he passed up the Maryland offensive coordinator job for example).
If that angers you, you're likely not alone.
But this should make you feel better. ESPN managed to throw some subtle shade at Jones by referring to other assistants who worked their way up at Alabama, while Jones seemingly went the opposite direction.
Featured image via Joseph Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports
