Saving Butch Beyond 2017

Here is a great way to pass some time in the offseason - list the things that you believe Butch must do / accomplish in order to keep his job beyond 2017.

A big caveat: Look at this realistically, given all that you know about Tennessee, its Admin, boosters, etc. I get that many of you don't think that he should have been hired, and strongly believe that he's long ago proven that he doesn't deserve to be here - but try to look beyond even your own personal opinions. If you checked your personal opinions on the man / his tenure at the door, how would you respond if someone who didn't know a thing about the inner workings of Tennessee were to ask you, "What do you think Butch Jones has to do to in order to convince Tennessee's decision-makers - Admin / Boosters - to bring him back beyond the upcoming season?"?

And, if you're feeling particularly plucky:

• What are the most important things that will "tell-the-tale" so to speak?
• What are the variable ranges - best & worst cases?
• What is your opinion as to the most likely outcome - will he achieve the things you believe that he must do, or not?

To aide in your effort, here is Tennessee's upcoming schedule (via: http://www.utsports.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/091316aaf.html):

[h=2]2017 SCHEDULE[/h][FONT=&quot][/FONT][TABLE="class: utsp-info-table, width: 300"]
[TR]
[TH="align: left"]Date[/TH]
[TH="align: left"]Opponent[/TH]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Sept. 4[/TD]
[TD]vs. Georgia Tech^[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Sept. 9[/TD]
[TD]INDIANA STATE[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Sept. 16[/TD]
[TD]at Florida*[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Sept. 23[/TD]
[TD]UMASS[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Sept. 30[/TD]
[TD]GEORGIA*[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Oct. 14[/TD]
[TD]SOUTH CAROLINA*[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Oct. 21[/TD]
[TD]at Alabama*[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Oct. 28[/TD]
[TD]at Kentucky*[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Nov. 4[/TD]
[TD]SOUTHERN MISS[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Nov. 11[/TD]
[TD]at Missouri*[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Nov. 18[/TD]
[TD]LSU*[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Nov. 25[/TD]
[TD]VANDERBILT*[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
[FONT=&quot]Home games at Neyland Stadium in BOLD[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]* SEC Game[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]^ Chick-fil-a Kickoff Game (Atlanta, Ga.)[/FONT]

 

Indiana State, UMass, Kentucky, Mizzou, Southern Miss and Vandy should all be wins. Get any two others, most likely South Carolina, Georgia Tech, tremendously overhyped UGA, or mediocre Florida, and he's back.

 

I think losing to GT could start a pretty horrible chain reaction, though. At this point I wouldn't be surprised to see fans welcome him back for 2018 because he fought hard in a loss to LSU and then showed tremendous resilience in bouncing back to finish off with a win over Vandy and go 7-5.

 

I think that any of the following will save his job:

SECE Champs

BCS Bowl Game appearance, even if a hard-fought but losing effort.

Guarantano has to be convincingly and consistently awesome, and show such potential for even greater things, as to make it impossible to fire Butch, for fear of squandering the kid's talent and time.

Tie for the SECE but lose the tie-breaker and miss the SECCG, but you beat Alabama, win 1 out of 2 versus UF & UGA, be hyper-competitive even in suffering a nail-biting second loss to either LSU or Ga Tech, and blow everyone else (esp. Vandy, Ky, Mizzou, SC) out by 17+ points, convincing win in non-BCS bowl game (24+ points).

Things that I think will get him ran at the end of the season:

Miss SECCG

Miss at least a tie for SECE

Lose any 3 of 4 to UF, UGA, Bama, or LSU

Lose to either Vandy or Mizzou, in any way, no matter how / why it occurred.

Get blown out by Bama, UF, UGA or LSU, or otherwise give the impression that the team has quit on him.

 

This thread needs to end. The can't can't, without luck or divine intervention, win enough to overcome the plainly stupid we've seen from him. I don't want to keep him because he got lucky and stumbled blind and backwards into wins.

Simply put, he can't do enough to overcome the hole.

 

I think he's saying what does he have to do to convince UT to keep him, not us. The answer, at least as recent history has shown, is virtually nothing.

 

Does it get bad enough that attendance starts dropping?

To allude to Buzz, does he sell enough popcorn?

What is the bowl game we get to and what is the payout?

Those are what will determine it, IMO.

 

If people continue buying tickets and showing up for games Butch will continue to be employed. I don't believe the result of specific games matter, and the final record only matters if it impacts the finances of the AD.

The most likely record I see is 7-5, with a floor of 6-6 and a ceiling of 8-4. I predict several very boring and predictable games with flashes of outstanding play from individuals lost in a sea of monumentally idiotic coaching decisions. Muschamp continues to own Butch, but he manages to get by Vanderbilt.

Butch will continue to be employed by the university.

 

He must beat Georgia Tech. Georgia Techs triple option and chop blocking scare me. I am hoping that we get out of the game healthy.

A loss would not surprise me. Things could go south pretty fast from there.

 

Crazy question. UT AD has made the worst series of coaching decisions over the past decade that I can recall anytime, anywhere. what that herd of clowns and incompetents might do is wholly unpredictable, unless is something likely to hurt the outcomes on the field.

I'd say better than even that we keep the guy if he wins 7.

 

I disagree.

I agree he needs wins over Tech, Indiana State, UMass, Kentucky, Mizzou, Southern Miss and Vandy, plus he needs a win over Florida. Then he needs 1 out of the other 4. If he doesn't go 9-3 he will get axed a question, and might even get axed if he gets crushed in the three losses.

If he loses to Tech, it will be a complete train wreck, possibly 5-7.

 

Winning record and he's back. Even if he scrapes by at 7-5

 

No way.

 

I'm not sure what convinces you of this.

 

Because come the Southern Miss game, there will be 50,000 at most in the stadium, and he will get axed a question.

 

How he keeps his job? Most of it is out of his hands so to speak. UT has to avoid the injury bug. He is dependent on others. He needs the players to step up. He needs his coaches to develop the players. His keeping his job depends on those he has hired and the players he has recruited to execute his vision and plan.
He is taking some good ideas from Saban in hiring quality control coaches. I dont know how many Saban has but Butch should hire top notch talent at those positions if he can. That will be dependent on if penny pincher Currie is smart enough to open the checkbook like Bama has for Saban.

Other things that help:
1.) Appears to have a top 10 or better class lined up for 2018.
2.) Hoke develops the DL and they stay healthy.
3.) Stoops is able to implement his scheme and UT has top 3 SEC defense.
3.) Warren develops UTs very talented but under-performing secondary.
4.) Canales has UTs QB in the top 3 in stats by year end.
5.) I think UTs best chance at success is to finally develop its WRs and passing game. The running game should be good enough to open up a high powered passing attack. Can Beard and Canales get it done? They have Byrd, Jennings and other talented guys at WR. There should be no reason these guys can't be a top 3 in the SEC or better receiving corps.

8+ wins and he stays
7 maybe
6 maybe but on probation if he survives but is likely out
5 or less and he is toast for sure.

 

People showed up damn near to the end of Dooley.

 

I wish you were right but attendance won't fall that far. I think it takes 5-7 to get him fired. 6-6 or 7-5 could if we got embarrassed several times, but Butch tends to not get blown out.

 

Except for the worst home loss in school history to Oregon. Or the two 35+ point losses to Bama. Or the 32 point drubbing by Auburn. Or the 28 point loss to Missouri. Or the 31 point loss to Ole Miss.

 

Oregon loss in Neyland was Dooley