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Former Tennessee head coach Butch Jones has finally finished up his internship with Nick Saban. It will land him at Arkansas State, as the new head coach of the Red Wolves.
Alabama assistant Butch Jones will be introduced as Arkansas State’s coach in a 7 p.m. ET team meeting, sources told @Stadium. Jones previously was head coach at Tennessee, Cincinnati & Central Michigan
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) December 12, 2020
I’m sure it has nothing to do with his checks from Tennessee drying up. Nothing at all.
I'm sure it's pure coincidence that he goes from analyst to head coach again just 2-months away from the UT buyout money running out. https://t.co/oWWljK9rKz
— Austin Burlage (@Power_T_Tape) December 12, 2020
Anyways, Jones gets a decent opportunity here. Arkansas State lost head coach Blake Anderson to Utah State, creating an opening for a solid program. The Red Wolves have won seven games in six of the last seven seasons. However, they finished this season at 4-7 overall.
Jones went 34-27 overall in his tenure at Tennessee, which included a 14-24 mark in SEC play. He’s spent the last three years with Nick Saban at Alabama, serving as an offensive assistant with the Crimson Tide.
Before his time at Tennessee, Jones went 23-14 at Cincinnati and 27-13 at Central Michigan. He was fired by Tennessee following the 2017 season.
His buyout payments from the University of Tennessee were set to end after February 2021. Jones reportedly earned $35,000 per year at Alabama — not nearly enough to end his monthly buyout payments of over $200,000 from Tennessee. At least that appears to be coming off of the books slightly early for Tennessee.