Tennessee's coaching search continues after the Vols backed out of a deal with Ohio State defensive coordinator Greg Schiano.
Many people have wondered if the situation the new coach is walking into is any better than what Butch Jones inherited when he took the job in December 2012.
When Jones arrived, the Vols were coming off three-straight losing seasons for the first time since 1911. In the present day, Tennessee just finished its first ever eight-loss, zero-SEC-win season in program history. But, the Vols did win nine games in 2016 and 2015.
Let's look at the talent on the roster Jones started his first season with vs. the talent the new coach will inherit (excluding the seniors who finished their careers and not counting the 2013 or 2018 recruiting classes). The star ratings are from the 247Sports Composite recruiting ratings.
The roster that Butch Jones took over featured only one five-star and that was offensive lineman Ja’Wuan James. The new coach will inherit three five-stars, all lineman (Kahlil McKenzie, Kyle Phillips, Trey Smith).
Jones' roster included 15 four-stars and 27 three-stars while the current roster has 23 four-stars and 27 three-stars.
The new coach could certainly see some players transfer or leave early for the NFL but most likely not enough to make up the difference of eight four-star players, ten three-stars and two five-stars.
So, it seems the new coach will inherit a better roster than Butch did.
Butch had big off-the-field problem to deal with, too. When Jones arrived, the program was in danger of being penalized for a low academic progress rate score. UT was close to being the first major program to receive sanctions for it that could’ve included a postseason ban. But, Jones and the Thornton Center staff made it a priority and avoided the penalties with the program’s first ever perfect 1000 APR score.
The Vols posted the highest APR and GPA in program history last semester, so the new coach shouldn't have to worry about fixing academics.
But, he might have some work to do on the culture surrounding the team.
"It just wasn't a fun place to be around," said quarterback Jarrett Guarantano after the Vols loss to Vanderbilt Saturday. "I think the team was together but I think there was just a few things that needed to be different."
There are certainly other factors that could be considered outside the scope of what we looked at here, including the financial situation, fan sentiment and change in athletic department staff, among other things.