Jones Calls UT "Best College Football Program in America"
Cincinnati's Butch Jones turned down the chance to coach Colorado earlier this week. It appears the move paid off, as Jones got the head coaching job at Tennessee on Friday. He received a six year deal worth over $18 million. Jones went 23-14 in three seasons with the Bearcats, tieing for first place twice in the Big East.
Butch Jones takes over a Vols program that has endured three straight losing seasons.But that's not how Jones sees the program. "Thank you Dave(Hart) for everything in giving me this wonderful opportunity to lead the best college football program in America."
To make UT the best in the country, it starts with recruiting. Said Jones,"We are going to win first and foremost with the great state of Tennessee. We have tremendous high school coaches in this state. We are the state institution. We will own our state. I know that we live in an instant gratification society and everybody wants everything at once. I will tell you this. We're going inch-by-inch. Inches make the champion."
Reporter-"Going up against the likes of Saban or Miles. Your thoughts on that challenge." Said Jones,"If you want to be the best, you have to compete with the best. Obviously, the SEC is the best football conference in the country. I will be the first to tell you that Nick Saban and Les Miles had zero SEC experience when they came into the league. And so, that's all I'll say there."
Jones has already enjoyed a correspondence with Vols alum and current Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning. "About four days ago, I got a text message from Peyton Manning. He was selling me on Colorado. He said it's hard for a person from the University of Tennessee to be selling somebody to come to the University of Colorado. And I wanted to text back, come on let's go, I want to go to Tennessee."
