Butch Jones wasn?t Tennessee?s first choice as its next football coach. The Volunteers believe the former Cincinnati coach will prove he?s the right choice.
Tennessee introduced Jones yesterday as its successor to Derek Dooley, who was fired on Nov. 18 after going 15-21 in three seasons. Jones called Tennessee his dream job and said he was taking over ?the best college football program in America.?
It hardly mattered to Jones that he wasn?t Tennessee?s first choice.
?I think I was my wife?s third choice, and it?s worked for 20 years,? Jones said.
Jones, 44, has a 50-27 record in six seasons as a head coach. He went 27-13 in three seasons at Central Michigan and was 23-14 at Cincinnati the past three years. He now faces the task of rebuilding a former Southeastern Conference power that has posted three consecutive losing seasons.
Jones agreed to a six-year contract worth $18.2 million, ending a tumultuous couple of days for both himself and his new school. Colorado had offered him a five-year deal worth at least $13.5 million.
Tennessee went after at least two other candidates before hiring Jones.
During the 19-day search to replace Dooley, the Volunteers contacted ESPN analyst and former Super Bowl-winning coach Jon Gruden, who indicated he wasn?t interested. The Vols then pursued Charlie Strong, who said on Thursday he had turned down their offer and would stay at Louisville.
?Rarely in life is anything exactly what it seems to be,? Tennessee athletic director Dave Hart said. ?Life doesn?t throw us all fastballs. It throws us curves, and then you?ve got some screwballs. ? You?ve got to be able to adjust.?
Jones, meanwhile, was apparently waiting for a job like Tennessee.
On the same day Strong made his announcement, Jones rejected Colorado?s offer. He also had been linked to the Purdue coaching job before removing himself from consideration.
Cincinnati athletic director Whit Babcock said Jones told him on Thursday morning that he was turning down Colorado. Minutes later, Hart called Babcock to express his interest in Jones. Babcock said Jones notified him yesterday at 5:15 a.m. that he was accepting Tennessee?s offer. Jones informed Cincinnati?s players at a 7:30 a.m. team meeting.
?It?s been kind of a whirlwind,? Jones said.
Jones will be Tennessee?s fourth coach in a six-season stretch, not including offensive coordinator Jim Chaney?s stint as interim head coach in the season finale after Dooley?s dismissal. Phillip Fulmer was fired after the 2008 season. Lane Kiffin coached Tennessee in 2009 before leaving for Southern California. Dooley lasted three years.
After winning at least eight games for 16 consecutive seasons from 1989-2004 and posting double-digit wins in nine of those years, Tennessee hasn?t won more than seven in any of its past five seasons. The Vols went 5-7 this fall for their fifth losing season the past eight years.
Jones believes Tennessee can recapture its past glory.
?Our fan base and myself have the same expectations,? Jones said. ?We?re working to be the best. We?re working to be No. 1 every day. We?re working to be national champions, and we?re working to be SEC champions. This program has done it, and we?ll do it again.?
Jones, the third straight Cincinnati coach to leave after three years, signed a contract extension after the 2011 season that included a $1.4 million buyout if he left before Jan. 1. Mark Dantonio went 18-17 at Cincinnati from 2004-06 before Michigan State hired him away. Brian Kelly was 34-6 before leaving for Notre Dame.
Cincinnati has made defensive line coach Steve Stripling its interim head coach for the Dec. 27 Belk Bowl against Duke in Charlotte, N.C., while it begins searching for Jones? successor.
Penn State and Pitt announced they will play each other in 2018 and ?19, extending a previous deal that revived the dormant series.
The Panthers and Nittany Lions, originally slated to resume their rivalry in 2016-17, will also play at Heinz Field in 2018 and Beaver Stadium in 2019.
? New North Carolina State coach Dave Doeren brought in Ryan Nielsen to coach the defensive line and serve as recruiting coordinator.
Nielsen spent the past two seasons at Northern Illinois under Doeren.
? New Auburn coach Gus Malzahn brought in 29-year-old protege Rhett Lashlee to be offensive coordinator and 60-year-old former Southern Miss coach Ellis Johnson as defensive coordinator.
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