Keeping Up With The Joneses

On Friday the University of Tennessee hired Butch Jones to take over their football program after firing Derek Dooley nearly three weeks ago. After rumors of John Gruden, Mike Gundy and Charlie Strong, the Vols ended up with the 2011 Big East Coach of the Year. Shortly after several outlets confirmed the report Friday morning, Vol fans did what Vol fans do best as of late.
Flip out.
Sports talk radio was flooded with calls from some of the most idiotic fans that Southern Appalachia has to offer. Facebook and Twitter exploded with post from some of the finest arm chair Athletic Directors in the country. Messages boards went into full fledge meltdown mode.
This has been an almost daily occurrence for the past five seasons on Rocky Top. Vol fans are angry. They're angry because they've had four losing seasons in five years. They're angry because they've had five head coaches in five seasons. (Including Jim Chaney). They're angry that they haven't seen a bowl game in two years and haven't won one since Bush was in office. "This is Tennessee", they say.
They're right. This is Tennessee.
Gone are the days when Phil Fulmer roamed the sidelines of Shields Watkins Field. Gone are the days when the real UT was playing for a spot in the SEC championship game every year. No longer is there 102,000 plus packed into Neyland Stadium for every home game.
And that's just the tip of the iceberg.
No longer are they beating, or even competing with Bama, Florida, and Georgia. They have been embarrassed by Mississippi St, ran out of Nashville by in state Vanderbilt and lost to Kentucky for the first time in 26 years.
They're down. And they've been down so long that being down is all they know.
They're so used to being down that all they knew how to do when AD Dave Hart made the decision to hire the 2011 Big East coach of the year, who has won four conference championships in six seasons and has a record of 52-27, was act like a four year old who didn't get what they wanted for Christmas. They didn't take time to consider the success he has had everywhere he has been. They didn't want to listen to some of the most respected people in the sports world tell them that Butch Jones was well respected among the coaching circles and praised Dave Hart for hiring him to turn the program around.
They forgot that they love the University of Tennessee because of what it is. They love it because of the Orange and White. They love it for the Vol Navy, Vol Walk and Neyland Stadium on fall Saturdays. They sing Rocky Top to the top of their lungs while they salute the Pride of The Southland Band. That's Tennessee football. The wins brought them tradition, and that tradition isn't going any where.
Is Butch Jones John Gruden? No.
But his credentials suggest that he could have any number of jobs, and he choose, no he begged for this one. In four days on the job he has embraced everything that Derek Dooley didn't in three years. He's not intimated by Saban, Miles or Richt and he doesn't care that he wasn't UT's first pick.
Butch Jones has won everywhere he has every been, and Tennessee needs a winner right now.
Vol fans We may not have the mansion on the hill, but in order to keep up with the Joneses, we need Butch Jones.