Just how good is Butch Jones, really?

Happy Friday all! In continuing on of my JHGI series (see miles, freeze, pinkel editions here, here, and here ), today we look at Butch Jones.

Inheriting a dumpster fire left behind by the doolander, Butch certainly had his work cut out for him. Questionable hire to many, especially considering butch has a losing career record against said doofus, but he has righted the ship. UT is the favorite to win the east this year and rightfully so. Let's look at Butch's tenure so far.

2013: 5-7
notable wins: #11 SC
notable losses: vanderbilt, 45 pts to oregon, 35 pts to bama, 28 pts to missouri, 32 points to auburn

2014: 7-6
notable wins: none
notable losses: 31 pts to ole miss

2015: 9-4
notable wins: #24georgia, #23 northwestern
notable losses: none


First and foremost we see continued improvement, which is what you want. High marks there, although it is a tad concerning that he has zero seasons with less than 4 losses :/ One noteworthy thing is that outside of his 7th game in knoxville (against SC), there really aren't many standout wins. He's come razor thin close to a few biggies, but no dice. His next biggest win would likely be UGA last year, a team that was not nearly as good as their record would indicate. More good news is that he's not really losing to teams he shouldn't. Most of the losses are teams they shoudl lose to, and with the exception of that first year most of the losses have been close.

I think this is a do or die year for butch. No, he certainly won't get fired next year for any reason, but this is put up or shut up time. If butch/ut are legit they need to win the east, minimum.

Taking all things into account, I give butch a solid 7 rating (higher than freeze and pinkel) on the 10 point scale.