Former Tennessee Vols head coach Butch Jones, now the the head coach at Arkansas State, spent three seasons working under Nick Saban as an analyst/special assistant at Alabama.
And let me tell you, he is squeezing all of the juice out of that lemon.
Jones seemingly never misses a chance to reference the fact that he worked under Saban for three seasons. Last December, for example, he told The Montgomery Independent that he found it amazing that he and Saban "think identical" to each other.
"It’s really just taking things off (Saban’s) plate. You’ve got to be a free thinker, you have to run on your own gas and think like a head coach," said Jones. "I always thought, using my head coaching experience, if I had somebody in this role, what would I want from them? And the amazing thing is Coach Saban and I think identical .”
Earlier this week at Sun Belt Media Days, Jones once again brought up his time with Saban via some strange remarks (which no one asked for) at the end of his opening statement.
"In closing, I would like to say this, I'm excited for the entire media, I'm excited for all of college football fan bases to experience Nick Saban," said Jones, apparently forgetting that we've all watched Saban closely for over 20 years now. "I think you can already see that he's making his mark in college football with the SEC Media Days and the 26 appearances that he has to make on ESPN. I think he's going to be a great ambassador of the game. I think the University of Alabama did a tremendous thing of naming the field at Bryant-Denny after him. And he means a lot to me, personally, and I really respect our relationship. I respect my three years in Tuscaloosa. I respect the responsibilities that he had given me. And so, again, I'm excited for the entire world to see on a weekly basis what Nick Saban is all about."
(Oh boy, I can't wait to find out what Saban is all about. I feel like I don't know anything about the guy after watching him coach at three incredibly high profile jobs the last quarter century.)
We get it, Butch. You were in Tuscaloosa for a few seasons after you got fired at Tennessee. But you're not Lane Kiffin or Steve Sarkisian (former offensive coordinators at Alabama who are currently head coaches in the SEC). You didn't have any responsibilities on the on-field coaching staff. You were an analyst. It's an important job, but there have been hundreds of those that have worked under Saban at Alabama. It's not exactly a rare club.
Jones actually had a chance to leave Alabama after the 2019 season to become the new tight ends coach at Maryland . But he decided to stick around at Alabama for the 2020 season (when he was named a special assistant to the head coach...whatever that means) instead of taking an on-field coaching job. I'm sure that had nothing to do with the fact that Jones' buyout payments from Tennessee stopped on February 28, 2021. Those payments were mitigated by Jones' salary at any new job he held. Fortunately for him, he only made a reported $35,000 at Alabama, so Tennessee essentially had to pay him the full buyout. I'm sure it's just a coincidence that Jones took the job at Arkansas State after the payments from Tennessee ended.
No one's impressed that you were an analyst at Alabama, Butch. And no one thinks you're in Saban's inner circle. But go ahead and keep reminding us if you think we're foolish enough to think it means something.
Related: Former Tennessee Vols QB Joe Milton is seriously impressing folks during Patriots training camp
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