Former Tennessee Volunteers head coach Butch Jones is talking to Alabama about an off-the-field coaching job.
Nick Saban has made a recent habit of being a place where embattled head coaches go to rehab their image and tweak their coaching philosophy in the hopes of landing a job elsewhere. This worked for Lane Kiffin and Steve Sarkisian who went from Crimson Tide offensive coordinator to Florida Atlantic head coach and Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator, respectively. And the next project for Saban could be former Tennessee head coach Butch Jones.
According to Matt Zenitz of Al.com, Jones has been in contact with Saban and the two have met to discuss a potential role for Jones joining the staff as an offensive analyst. The job will be an off-field role, but it could be a way for Jones to get back on the sideline as a head coach in the near future should he be offered and accept the analyst position.
Jones has been out of work since Tennessee fired him in November and went on a lengthy and dramatic coaching search before landing on former Alabama defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt.
Wouldn’t it just be the ultimate punch in the gut for Saban to hire Jones to work on his staff and help them compete for another national championship while Tennessee is paying him his $8.2 million buyout?
And think about the position Jones is in. He didn’t have to take a head coaching position right away, and it’s probably in his best interest to take the year or two away from that stress after the last year at Tennessee. The Vols disappointed and the fans turned on him as quickly as they embraced him and his brick-by-brick mantra as he rebuilt the program from the depths of the Derek Dooley era to a respectable run that fell short of SEC East titles.
The third Saturday in October would certainly have some added drama if Jones was on Alabama’s staff and you just know he’d love to hang half-a-hundred on the team he used to coach. I really hope this happens to see the reactions out of Tennessee and Alabama. The rivalry has been one-sided for more than a decade with Alabama running college football and adding Jones would only add more fuel to the fire.