University of Tennessee Athletics
Tennessee Extends Contract Of Butch Jones
December 08, 2014 | Football
Dec. 8, 2014
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- University of Tennessee Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics Dave Hart announced today that head football coach Butch Jones has agreed to a two-year contract extension through 2020. Per the terms of the deal, the compensation for Jones will increase to $3.6 million annually through the six-year term of the contract.
"When you are rebuilding a program, you face many challenges in order to change the culture," said Hart. "A tireless effort is required from the entire organization. The most critical piece of the puzzle is leadership, and we have the right man leading our football program. Butch Jones has reenergized our fans base and is an outstanding ambassador for our university. He and his staff have recruited at a very high level in an effort to restock our talent base, and we have made great strides academically since his arrival. He possesses a unique skill set, and I value our relationship personally and professionally. The terms of the agreement extend the contract by two years through the 2020 season, at $3.6 million per year."
"I am very honored and grateful to be the head football coach at the University of Tennessee, and I understand what this program represents," said Jones. "This has been a complete team effort as we continue to rebuild and restore the Tennessee football program to the standards and expectations that we all have. I'm extremely appreciative to Dave Hart, Chancellor Cheek, and our entire administration for all the support they have given us, and I am also thankful for the loyal support from the best and most passionate fan base in the nation."
Jones owns a career record of 61-40 (.604) in eight seasons as a head coach with Tennessee (2013-14), Cincinnati (2010-12) and Central Michigan (2007-09) and also owns a 37-23 record (.617) in conference games. In eight seasons as a head coach, Jones has led his teams to six bowl appearances.
The 2014 Vols finished 6-6 and earned the school's first bowl bid in four seasons, as Tennessee takes on Iowa in the TaxSlayer Bowl in Jacksonville on Jan. 2, 2015. A bowl victory would give Tennessee its most wins in a season since 2009.
The Tennessee football program has made tremendous strides academically under Jones and his staff, including a significant Academic Progress Rate (APR) single-year increase from 909 to 962. Additionally, the 2.80 GPA posted by the football team in the Spring 2013 semester is the highest for the program since sport-by-sport data began being tracked by the institution in 2003, while the first Fall Semester GPA under Jones (in 2013) improved from 2.49 to 2.64. Both the Spring and Fall 2013 semester featured the highest APR scores for both a Spring and Fall semester in school history.
Jones and his staff have placed a strong emphasis on recruiting. Their success in this area has been evident during the 2014 season, in which the Vols played 23 true freshmen from their most recent recruiting class, a group that was ranked in the top five by multiple media outlets. A total of 12 true freshmen have started games for the Vols in 2014, and more than half of the players on the current Tennessee depth chart were signed by Jones and his staff during the last two classes.
A high priority has also been placed by Jones and his staff on outreach to the Tennessee fan base, and part of the impact of that has been the dramatic increase in attendance at Neyland Stadium during Tennessee's two seasons with Jones at the helm. In 2014, the Vols averaged 99,754 fans per game at home, an increase of nearly 10,000 per game (9,789) over the 2012 average of 89,965.
Dave Hart addressed the media on Monday morning, here is what he had to say:
Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics Dave Hart
(Opening Statement)
"Good morning everybody, I came down with some exciting news and after we talk about this for a little bit then we will let Butch get to his normal press conference topics. But today I wanted to let you know we are extending Butch's contract and giving him a raise. I will get into that specifically in just a moment.
But when you are rebuilding a program you face a lot of challenges in an effort to change the culture. It takes a tireless effort in everyone in the organization to make that come to fruition. Clearly the most critical piece is leadership and we have the right man leading our football program at the University of Tennessee. Butch Jones has clearly reenergized our fan base, he is an outstanding ambassador for our university which transcends his role as head football coach. He and his staff have recruited at a very high level and in an effort to restock our talent base you see that unfolding.
"He possesses a very unique skill set in my opinion. One that not too many people are fortunate enough to be blessed with. I value very much our relationship, both personal and professional. So it is exciting for me to share with you that we have extended Butch's contract by two years, through the 2020 season at 3.6 million per year and we are excited to do that. The contract addendum will go through appropriate university channels and upon conclusion of that process we will be happy to distribute that addendum to everyone who requests it.
"So I will be happy to answer any questions that you might have about this."
(On importance of getting the raise and contract extension done as soon as possible)
"I think I said this to you John [Brice] in a recent setting but it has always been my philosophy to reword people for performance and the job that they are doing and not reward for them because you think somebody else might come and get them. This is about that. One important element that needs to be mentioned on top of everything I have articulated is, if you look at our academic environment when Butch got here and look at where we are today, that is a significant change for the better. Why is that? Because it is not lip service. Because he focuses on academics. When you look at all the key areas of leading a football program and how complex that is and how you have to multitask beyond what anybody actually realizes, unless you are in the profession, he does all of that and more."
(On when the discussion of a contract extension began)
"We did. We visited for the first time the Sunday after the Vanderbilt game and actually had a handshake agreement on Friday about what we were going to do."
(On providing raises to assistant coaches)
"We will."
(On the amount of raises for assistant coaches)
"Butch knows what that number is. He is the important person that needs to know what the number is and he will allocate it as he sees fit at the appropriate time. He will do that when he deems it appropriate. But it keeps us at a very competitive position."
(On what he hopes the message the raise and contract extension says)
"Butch Jones is our coach and will be our coach for a very long time. That we are appreciative that he is our coach and his tireless efforts have not gone unnoticed."
(On if Michigan contacted him)
"No."
(On if any schools contacted him)
No."
"Unless you want to know what we are going to do with our coverage against Iowa, I am going to leave."
Head Coach Butch Jones
(On extension)
"Before we move onto bowl preparation and talk about the bowl game and the University of Iowa, again I am very grateful and appreciative of the opportunity to be the head football coach at the University of Tennessee, and our administration since day one has shown tremendous, tremendous support. You heard Dave [Hart] speak about all of the time you use the word team. This has been a great, great team effort. We talk about in our football program everyone being all aligned. It's an organization. It's a family. It's beyond our coaches. It's beyond our players. It's our administration. It's our marketing department, our fundraising. It's sports information. It's everything, sports medicine, our doctors, our trainers, academics in the Thornton Center. I think that's a tribute to Dave Hart and his leadership and the stability and vision that he has provided for everyone. I think I speak for every head coach here. The other thing I think are unique to this environment, this situation, is the closeness of all of our coaches. We talk about being one Tennessee, and we are truly one Tennessee. All of them have been tremendously supportive, win or lose. Always getting text messages of support. I think that speaks volumes and centers around one of the greatest attributes that you can have, which is leadership.
