I continue to be on the fence about Jones. This should have been the year to see if he had IT with the horses he had going into the year. However, when you have the injuries that they dealt with, especially on the defensive line, it is impossible to truly judge his coaching. This year became a big, fat Incomplete in the grading category. I think if you had asked most of the UT fans not wearing the orange tinted glasses before the season on where the Vols would be won/loss wise in facing the #1 hardest schedule in the country minus Maybin, Sutton, Kirkland, Tuttle, McKenzie, Sapp, Obrien, etc, etc, I suspect most would have been happy with the 9 wins they ended up with. It is frustrating because it could have been a special season without the rash of injuries.
Sorry, but I have no problem with the emotion at the end of that game. I do hope he gets some pr guru help before next years as his press conferences are like fingernails on a chalkboard to me at this point.
But, as an alum, I am appreciative for some of the other things he has done. He has changed the culture from some of the thuggery that plagued UT from the end of the Fulmer regime until he took over. His kids haven't been perfect, but it is night and day on what it was before he took over. The improvements he has made in the classroom and off the field are notable. I know that for some "fans" the only thing that matters are the wins, but for someone that actually went to school there, the other is important as well. It is not more important, but it is not to be dismissed, either. Hopefully, he can continue with the improvements on the football side as well. If not, we will be back to one of the UT "fans" favorite off season pastimes with another coaching search in the next couple of years.
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