Tennessee Vols – Thank God For Butch Jones

The Tennessee Vols Athletic Department has become the joke of the SEC over the past few years.  The Donnie Tyndall fiasco has added fuel to the fire for fans and foes. We can’t spin this incompetency that is Tennessee Athletics in a good light anymore.

One of the funniest things I have read recently was a readers comments on a Clay Travis story he wrote on the debacle that is Dave Hart and the Athletic Department. The comment made was wondering if there was any precedent of a University Athletic Department imposing the “death penalty” on itself. The comment went on to say that Tennessee should lead the way if it had never been done before.

Travis responded saying that Tennessee would fail at committing departmental suicide and instead remain in a “vegetative state” for the rest of time. Another reader commented that the “vegetative state” would be nothing new for the Athletic Department.

I am a proud Tennessee fan. I went to school there along with my wife. I have a son and daughter who have graduated from the University recently. I have a son that is a Sophomore there now. Suffice it to say I am invested in the University of Tennessee. I love it. My week goes as the Tennessee Athletic teams go. My weeks have not been going so well the last few years.

I take no joy in taking shots at Tennessee. I like to show Tennessee in a positive light in all occasions. I don’t know how many fans know how much the University of Tennessee has changed academically in the past 10 years. When I attended Tennessee in the 80’s I like to say if you had $145 and a D you could get in. Now, you better be at the top of your class in order to attend. My children have received a top notch education from the University of Tennessee. Both have received outstanding jobs upon graduation with top companies in their fields; Software engineering and Accounting.

Tennessee is committed to becoming a Top 2o University in the United States. They are progressing impressively.

However, the Athletic Department is not progressing. They are regressing with every season with exception of the football program.

The Men’s Basketball program is in total disaster mode. Tyndall’s transgressions at Southern Miss have come back to haunt him and Dave Hart. Should Hart have known? I want to say he did his due diligence. I want to say there is no way he could have known about the Prop 48 violations Donnie had committed while at Southern Miss.

I have to admit that I have heard the word “vetting” more in the last few days than I have ever heard in my 52 years. Questions have been asked to Hart such as “did you ‘vet’ properly”, “do you think the ‘vetting’ process was done properly”, “did you actually ‘vet’ internally or did you use someone else”. So “vetting” means did you check this guy out? Nothing more.

Evidently it is harder to get a loan at a local bank than it is to become a head coach at Tennessee. Maybe Tennessee should get First Tennessee Banks’ application for a loan and copy it for hiring purposes. It has to be more investigative. Presently Hart’s application must ask name, address, have you coached before?, and will you take much less than other SEC coaches if you can fit in this orange blazer?

I believe Hart when he says his team asked all of the right questions to the key players at Southern Miss. They “vetted” all of the administration, athletic department personnel, compliance officers, and coaches that had coached against Donnie. They even went back to the administration at Morehead State where Donnie was slapped by the NCAA previously, and everyone was glowingly optimistic and complementary of Donnie. I believe Tennessee did that investigation, but I believe they did it a little too hastily.

Thank goodness that the Tennessee Athletic Department Counsel had imposed the “liar, liar pants on fire” clause in Donnie’s contract. If the guy or girl that drafted this contract is a Tennessee Law School graduate I would have him or her on the front page of the Law School Website to attract future attorneys. That was a good move.

The clause allowed the Vols to fire Donnie if anything came up of past transgressions or present transgressions without Tennessee having to pay him to retirement for firing him. See the Ex-Tennessee Coaches still on the payroll union of which Derek Dooley is President for more on that subject. Thankfully Tennessee will not add Tyndall to this list.

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It is easy for me and others to chastise Hart and the Athletic Department for Tyndall’s hiring in the first place. Tennessee was in a spot. Cuonzo left in the middle of the night to Hart’s surprise and headed to California. How’s that going for you Cali?

They had been turned down by some candidates that they wanted during their search, and they needed to get a coach quickly. So Tyndall was hired. Tyndall proved on the court that he was a good tactical hire. His matchup zone defense confounded and confused SEC team offenses all season long. Donnie got the most out of his team. His players played extremely hard for him.

The team, much like Donnie himself, was an over-achiever. No one can deny that Donnie is not a good basketball coach. Hart got that right. That can not be denied. Not only was he a good coach, but Donnie was a likable guy. Everything was right, but he just did not fly straight prior to getting to Tennessee. It was exposed.

It won’t take long to discuss other issues in the Athletic Department. The Lady Vols name change is a hot topic in Knoxville. The change to Volunteers from Lady Vols is supposed to be a branding issue. I understand that. Nike seemed to think it made sense to be all Vols. No ladies allowed. So Hart has that going for him on his watch.

The baseball team is absolutely terrible. They are a big disappointment at the moment. They were swept by Georgia last weekend and are now at Vanderbilt today. They lost yesterday 9-0 to Vandy. Dave Serrano is a good coach. Is it the coach, or is the problem he is not getting the help he needs? I don’t know that answer, but I guarantee you there are enough baseball players in the State of Tennessee that are good enough to be competitive in the SEC and Nationally. Tennessee is not competitive. Get it fixed. (see my article on Tennessee baseball to see how I really feel about this subject).

Tennessee placed 7th in the SEC in Track and Field. Not terrible, but Tennessee in the early 2000’s was awesome. They have slipped. The Golf team has righted itself as of recent and is getting ready to play in the SEC championships in April. We will see how that goes. The Tennis team is 11-8 right now, and 2-2 in the SEC.

Thank God For Butch Jones! Jones has re-energized the entire Tennessee fan base with a resurgence in Football. Jones has recruited the best in the country to Knoxville and is getting the best. It is starting to show on the field, and in the stands. Vol fans, who have always been loyal fans that have showed up no matter what, now have an excitement about them in the stands. There is finally something to be excited about.

Jones’ team won the Taxslayer Bowl last season. It was the first bowl win in forever for the Vols. Many have Tennessee as the favorite to win the SEC East this season. Honestly, they will be in contention. They are that good, and Jones is building Tennessee back to where Tennessee belongs.

So is Hart responsible for Jones hiring? You have to say yes. It was luck, but it did happen. He missed on Gundy of Oklahoma State and on Strong of (now) Texas. Then along came Jones. But he did hire him. So there.

Tennessee needs stability in all aspects. The Football team will have this for quite some time if they pay Coach Jones. They have to pay him to keep him. The next basketball coach has to be a great hire. Call Rick Byrd. He is a great guy, and a great coach. He will give you stability for the next 10 years.

Anyone else will be a crap shoot, and Tennessee can not afford to get down on it’s knees and roll the dice again in the back of some alley. That has been done too much of late. You are with Nike now Tennessee. Just Do It.