UT fan needing thoughts/opinions about our new coach, Butch Jones

[UTBigOrange76]

First off, I'd like to congratulate Bearcat fans for the hiring of Tommy Tuberville. I'm a life long Vol fan and follower of the SEC for nearly 30 years. He's a tremendous coach and caused all kinds of problems against his competition while at Auburn. You should be excited.

Several of my fellow Vol fans and I are excited about our new head coach, Butch Jones. We've seen YouTube videos but still don't know much about him. Would y'all care to give me your thoughts and opinions about him in regards to the following:

1) team preparation: how good is he at getting his team ready to play?

2) in-game management: how good is he at managing a game (timeouts, play calling, etc. and making halftime adjustments when needed)?

3) how is he as far as discipline goes? does he have the respect of his players? do they play hard for him?

4) how do you think he'll be able to recruit here in the southeast?

Thanks

 

[ralph1950]

First off, I'd like to congratulate Bearcat fans for the hiring of Tommy Tuberville. I'm a life long Vol fan and follower of the SEC for nearly 30 years. He's a tremendous coach and caused all kinds of problems against his competition while at Auburn. You should be excited.

Several of my fellow Vol fans and I are excited about our new head coach, Butch Jones. We've seen YouTube videos but still don't know much about him. Would y'all care to give me your thoughts and opinions about him in regards to the following:

1) team preparation: how good is he at getting his team ready to play?

2) in-game management: how good is he at managing a game (timeouts, play calling, etc. and making halftime adjustments when needed)?

3) how is he as far as discipline goes? does he have the respect of his players? do they play hard for him?

4) how do you think he'll be able to recruit here in the southeast?

Thanks

UC lost to Toledo this year and Butch was one of the coaches Derek Dooley could beat.

 

[UTBigOrange76]

UC lost to Toledo this year and Butch was one of the coaches Derek Dooley could beat.

Isn't Toledo a top 25 team? Also, Coach Dooley and the Vols played Cincinnati at the right time. It was when we had a healthy Da'Rick Rogers, Justin Hunter, and Tyler Bray. That trio was nearly unstoppable. We lost Hunter for the season the following game at Florida. We later lost Tyler Bray for several games due to an injury against Georgia. The wheels fell off as far as our offense went, and we finished 5-7. We were at our best when we played Montana and y'all in 2011.

 

[Scheids21]

First off, I'd like to congratulate Bearcat fans for the hiring of Tommy Tuberville. I'm a life long Vol fan and follower of the SEC for nearly 30 years. He's a tremendous coach and caused all kinds of problems against his competition while at Auburn. You should be excited.

Several of my fellow Vol fans and I are excited about our new head coach, Butch Jones. We've seen YouTube videos but still don't know much about him. Would y'all care to give me your thoughts and opinions about him in regards to the following:

1) team preparation: how good is he at getting his team ready to play?

2) in-game management: how good is he at managing a game (timeouts, play calling, etc. and making halftime adjustments when needed)?

3) how is he as far as discipline goes? does he have the respect of his players? do they play hard for him?

4) how do you think he'll be able to recruit here in the southeast?

Thanks

Thanks for posting. Never had any hard feeling towards Tennessee and did not blame him for leaving. Tennessee is obviously a great job in the best conference.

1) Butch seemed to do a good job of game preparation. Never saw a game where it looked like we were out-schemed by the other coach. That being said, he never really won a big game here. Just kind of took care of business for the most part.

2) Game management is a different story. The biggest complaint UC fans had and a lot of anger came from Butch's insistance on playing Munchie Legaux. He was a dual threat Junior QB this year that could not complete a pass for his life and made terrible decisions. Butch stuck with him about 3 or 4 games past when people were calling for a change. He had games where he would be 5-16 with 2 INTs in the first half and Butch didn't make the change. Most fans blame Butch that we are not playing in a BCS bowl for this mismanagement.

3) Definitely has the respect of his players. UC players have not really had any problems of late and our graduation and GPA are higher than ever. Players I have talked to said they loved playing for him. His first team meeting, he walked into the room and wrote a phone number on the board and said "thats my cell phone. You call me anytime, day or night"

4) While he has had success recruiting here, I cannot tell you he will succeed in the south. He did well here, but he just doesn't have any experience down there. Hopefully for Tennessee he and his assistants will be able to establish some credibility and it doesn't hurt to have Tennessee's incredible facilities.

Overall, Tennessee probably could have done better, but you obviously needed a coach badly this season and it's not a bad hire. Many UC fans think he will not last longer than 3 years at UT, but that could just be sour grapes. He may be successful, but I honestly don't see him creating a national title team every year as UT expects. I think Tennessee hired him to be the next Brian Kelly and the consensus in Cincinnati is he isn't. I wish him the best and think he can at the least create a contender. Hopefully this helps; good luck to you.

 

[Scheids21]

Isn't Toledo a top 25 team? Also, Coach Dooley and the Vols played Cincinnati at the right time. It was when we had a healthy Da'Rick Rogers, Justin Hunter, and Tyler Bray. That trio was nearly unstoppable. We lost Hunter for the season the following game at Florida. We later lost Tyler Bray for several games due to an injury against Georgia. The wheels fell off as far as our offense went, and we finished 5-7. We were at our best when we played Montana and y'all in 2011.

A heads up for this board: Ignore most comments made by Ralph and all comments made by BearcatMick.

 

[Gotcha23]

I think Butch is a great players coach. The players and organization love him. However, the fact that we haven't taken the conference "championship" the last few years makes me wonder what he can do in the SEC. If he can't get it done in the Big East..what's going to happen against Saban, Miles and Co.

 

[UTBigOrange76]

Thanks for posting. Never had any hard feeling towards Tennessee and did not blame him for leaving. Tennessee is obviously a great job in the best conference.

1) Butch seemed to do a good job of game preparation. Never saw a game where it looked like we were out-schemed by the other coach. That being said, he never really won a big game here. Just kind of took care of business for the most part.

2) Game management is a different story. The biggest complaint UC fans had and a lot of anger came from Butch's insistance on playing Munchie Legaux. He was a dual threat Junior QB this year that could not complete a pass for his life and made terrible decisions. Butch stuck with him about 3 or 4 games past when people were calling for a change. He had games where he would be 5-16 with 2 INTs in the first half and Butch didn't make the change. Most fans blame Butch that we are not playing in a BCS bowl for this mismanagement.

3) Definitely has the respect of his players. UC players have not really had any problems of late and our graduation and GPA are higher than ever. Players I have talked to said they loved playing for him. His first team meeting, he walked into the room and wrote a phone number on the board and said "thats my cell phone. You call me anytime, day or night"

4) While he has had success recruiting here, I cannot tell you he will succeed in the south. He did well here, but he just doesn't have any experience down there. Hopefully for Tennessee he and his assistants will be able to establish some credibility and it doesn't hurt to have Tennessee's incredible facilities.

Overall, Tennessee probably could have done better, but you obviously needed a coach badly this season and it's not a bad hire. Many UC fans think he will not last longer than 3 years at UT, but that could just be sour grapes. He may be successful, but I honestly don't see him creating a national title team every year as UT expects. I think Tennessee hired him to be the next Brian Kelly and the consensus in Cincinnati is he isn't. I wish him the best and think he can at the least create a contender. Hopefully this helps; good luck to you.

Thanks for the insight. A local radio sports talk host in Knoxville made a statement that I agree with. He said you should judge a college football coach by how he performs against competition at his level. In other words, you should judge how Skip Holtz, Charlie Strong, Butch Jones, etc. did against against each other and against the rest of the Big East just as you should judge Derek Dooley, Will Muschamp, Joker Phillips, Nick Saban, etc. did against each other and against the rest of the SEC. Looking at the University of Cincinnati, there is only a couple of things holding you back. If this limitation wasn't there, I believe you would see the Bearcats taking down top 15 teams on a regular basis. That limitation is your need to move into a larger conference like the ACC or Big 10. This would cause you to expand the size of your stadium, improve the facilities, and create much more of a stir in southern Ohio and northern Kentucky which would fill up the stadium and generate more and more revenue. If this happens soon, and I hope it does, Tommy Tuberville will be dangerous. A big plus you have in that area as well as the state of Ohio itself is a relatively large state population and very, very good in-state recruiting.

 

[UCalum08]

IMO, Butch will win the games UT are supposed/favored to win and he will lose the game UT are supposed to lose. Simple as that. That's what he did in a very mediocre Big East league and I don't see that changing. With that being said, it doesn't look good for UT because there are so many other power house teams. Enjoy listening to his corny sayings and weak play calling. I don't think he will succeed in the SEC and he will be gone in a few years. I am not bitter towards Butch in anyway but I have said since the rumors began he hasn't proved himself yet to be an SEC coach. The numbers don't lie.

 

[Bearcat_NTS]

First off, I'd like to congratulate Bearcat fans for the hiring of Tommy Tuberville. I'm a life long Vol fan and follower of the SEC for nearly 30 years. He's a tremendous coach and caused all kinds of problems against his competition while at Auburn. You should be excited.

Several of my fellow Vol fans and I are excited about our new head coach, Butch Jones. We've seen YouTube videos but still don't know much about him. Would y'all care to give me your thoughts and opinions about him in regards to the following:

1) team preparation: how good is he at getting his team ready to play?

2) in-game management: how good is he at managing a game (timeouts, play calling, etc. and making halftime adjustments when needed)?

3) how is he as far as discipline goes? does he have the respect of his players? do they play hard for him?

4) how do you think he'll be able to recruit here in the southeast?

Thanks

Butch Jones is about as vanilla as it comes in terms of play calling. Bajakian (the OC) will occasionally add in some flavor but expect the spread option and a lot of zone reads. He is pretty good at everything else, UC got a lot of recruits from Florida, Georgia and Tennessee. That will obviously continue for you.

Moral of the story: Butch Jones will build a very consistent program, he recruits pretty well and says a lot of corny slogans. You probably won't lose too many games you shouldn't but you probably won't win any big ones either. I forsee a lot of 7-5, 6-6 and 8-4 seasons for y'all. If you are looking for in game adjustments, look for a different coach.

 

[UTBigOrange76]

IMO, Butch will win the games UT are supposed/favored to win and he will lose the game UT are supposed to lose. Simple as that. That's what he did in a very mediocre Big East league and I don't see that changing. With that being said, it doesn't look good for UT because there are so many other power house teams. Enjoy listening to his corny sayings and weak play calling. I don't think he will succeed in the SEC and he will be gone in a few years. I am not bitter towards Butch in anyway but I have said since the rumors began he hasn't proved himself yet to be an SEC coach. The numbers don't lie.

Hasn't he won back-to-back conference titles, though? Wasn't this after a rough 4-8 start his first year there?

 

[Gotcha23]

No BCS berths..

 

[UCalum08]

Hasn't he won back-to-back conference titles, though? Wasn't this after a rough 4-8 start his first year there?

He won SHARES of back to back conference titles in a mediocre Big East. To me that is not very impressive, especially when we easily should be outright champs this year. If Butch wasn't your coach there is no way any SEC team, specifically UT fans would be impressed with that stat.

 

[JasonS]

Here is an unbiased opinion (as much as one can be) on Butch Jones. The guy is a winner and will win games. I think an average season will be around 8-9 wins in the SEC. He is a smart guy who knows his X's and O's. That said, he is not a genious on offense or anything like that. His teams will be disciplined, in good shape, and solid. He has some corny slogans and stuff like that but his players seem to buy in so that is what counts. I actually think his best asset here at UC was his recruiting ability. He is able to relate well to the young kids he recruits and has on the team. Will that translate into big time recruits at UT? I don't know.

Butch's biggest weakness, IMO is his conservative nature. I feel like there were games where the play calling was too conservative and maybe kept games closer than they should have been. Maybe this seemed more evident since he followed Brian "River Boat Gambler" Kelly. The other knock that is fair is that he never won the big game. The Virginia Tech win this year was about as close as it got. His inability to either develop a QB or find one was the biggest issue with our team this year.

 

[bearcatrunner]

I would say the players love the guy and they have been pretty clean. He has also recruited pretty well for our level of play. I think bearcatnation is pretty realistic about where we stand in the football world. We are starting to rise but have a long way to go to play with the big boys of the SEC. I agree with your statement that a new conference would be huge!

I just think when Butch walk's into a recruits home what is he going to say after the big boys have been in to see them. UT will recruit some players just because you are UT. The same kind of goes for UC and basketball. Those kids who grew up dreaming of being a Vol. I think your biggest problem is going to be the recruiting piece. I think you needed a bigger name splash then what you got.

A big part of this is what do you have returning next year and will you lose any recruits because of the coaching change. That first year is going to set the table for the recruits.

The thing I like about our coaching change is that it was a huge name so we should not lose many recruits and might even be able to grab a couple of big name transfers or Texas Tech recruits. The fact that Tubby can walk into a recruits home with his rings will be priceless.

We have many problems here. Too many pro teams, Ohio state and Notre Dame always knocking on kids doors. It will be hard for us to take the next step. Upgrading our stadium and getting into a new conference would go a long way.

BTW - what happened to your basketball team. You used to be good once.

 

[cincycpaw]

Hasn't he won back-to-back conference titles, though? Wasn't this after a rough 4-8 start his first year there?

You'll find crazy bitter bearcats responding.

Butch is a program builder. UC was headed in the right direction. If any of the young QBs he recruited here end up being great then I'd say he was setting up YC for multiple Big East championships in the near future.

The question for you will be, can he recruit the south? He's no Saban, but who is? You'll know in 3 years whether its time to cut the cord or continue. And even if you cut the cord, he will leave a stable program that the next hire can take to the next level. I think it was a good risk by UT. Good luck.

 

[bearcatrunner]

The question for you will be, can he recruit the south? He's no Saban, but who is? You'll know in 3 years whether its time to cut the cord or continue. And even if you cut the cord, he will leave a stable program that the next hire can take to the next level. I think it was a good risk by UT. Good luck.

That is the problem here. UC should have to be the one taking the risk. As much as it pains me we are not TN when it comes to football. They have crazy crowds and a pretty big budget. However, it seems to me that they took the risk and we got as good as you can to a known comodity. Especially for the level of our program. Before anyone starts I am happy where we are heading. I just feel like we just upgraded at coach and I didn't think that was possible. Seems to me UT settled for a coach and we targeted the man we really wanted and got him. It pays to have connections I guess.

 

[BearcatMick]

A heads up for this board: Ignore most comments made by Ralph and all comments made by BearcatMick.

Yet another erroneous statement by "aw scheid"