Bill Haslam on Butch Jones: Q: Back to Tennessee football, what do you think of that program, where it is and the job Butch Jones is doing? A: “Well, Tennessee football has unparalleled tradition, facilities and program infrastructure. As somebody who grew up caring about Tennessee football, you always want to make certain that we’re a competitive, top-ranked team. It’s also important to that part of the state economically. I used to be the mayor of Knoxville, you could track tax receipts for good seasons, and when the Vols did well people spent more money on hotels, more money in restaurants, they’d buy more merchandise, etc. It’s important to that part of the state and the state as a whole. I’m like everybody else, I enjoy it when Tennessee is having a season where we’re a top-ranked team, and I think most people feel that’s where Tennessee should be. As governor, it’s not my role to comment on anything beyond that, except to say … I think coach Jones is working hard to build the right kind of program. Where players graduate, where players are great citizens off the field, and that they also win on the field. And I think there’s probably nobody more frustrated with the last two weeks than coach Jones. And I know that he understands how important it is that Tennessee be a top-ranked program.” This was posted on toos this morning with the following link, which doesn't work for me: http://www.tennessean.com/story/spor...ore/702946001/
The state of Tennessee will see a revenue drop this weekend is my guess from what it should be. It will not go unnoticed.
i think it'll be a sellout crowd, actually. And people will be heavily booing Jones well before halftime. I don't know what would be the bigger statement... Nobody shows up for the game, or everybody shows up at the game and then leaves at halftime.
I would say the GA fans will be there in a big way with big wallets. Travelling TN fans...not so much. Man, I hope this is a beatdown. It is just the right thing to get this over with and move on.
True..... that said, i just had a flashback..... stadium filled with nothing but UGA fans screaming, "We just beat the hell outta you" .... just like Bama fans ...whatever year that happened.
Who cares about the Haslams opinion. If Jones is fired its an indictment on their influence. Throw in the crap show with Fulmer and Blackburn while they had their stealth candidate Currie in the wings. 10+ years of them botching it with the economy hires. And look at what he emphasized. A "top" program and revenue. Nothing about championships. In other words he wants just good enough to keep the money coming in. He would be content to be second fiddle to Bama forever as long as the seats were filled. They,back in the day, should have offered Satan 20M a year to come to Cleveland and hired Gruden at the same time. Then we would have known they were serious.
