The members of Vol Nation have certainly weighed in on the hiring of new head football coach Butch Jones.
Some take a wait-n-see attitude; others are less kind. They were underwhelmed with the news of this hire.
As for me, I support Coach Jones and I urge Vol fans to do the same. But the die-hards – the folks who say they ‘Bleed Orange’ - wanted more. They either bought into the stories about big names like Oklahoma Coach Bob Stoops or slightly less big but still bigger ones, like Florida State Coach Jimbo Fisher. And, don’t get me started on the Jon Gruden hysteria. That whole storyline took on a surreal life of its own.
The die hards – these are the fellows who call in to all the radio shows and post emotional notes on the various message boards online – wanted more.
The reality of where Tennessee football is now compared to where it was during the glory years of the late 90s is hard for this group to accept. And while I realize this is probably a minority of Tennessee Vols fans, it is, however, a very vocal minority. The first caller I heard on the morning radio show was almost vocalizing a ‘The sky is falling’ kind of viewpoint of who will be pacing up and down the sidelines at Neyland Stadium beginning this fall.
Patience, my friends.
Now, if Coach Jones isn’t a glamorous hire, even the detractors would have to acknowledge he brings a solid record of winning to Big Orange Country. And, during his initial press conference on Friday – and in the stories that have circulated afterward – it is quite obvious that he passionately wants to be here.
After other coaches turned us down, surely that accounts for something, right?
And after years of NOT winning, surely the prospect of having a coach who brings a winning tradition to town – didn’t the last two come with losing records? – should mean a great deal.
My call to action is this – let’s unite and get behind Coach Jones and his staff. We all want the same thing, right? We want to see the UT Vols return to the winning tradition of the 90s and before. We can all agree what a boost that would be for the town and region – both in tangible terms, like an economic boost and the less obvious bolstering of our collective psyche.
We all want to root for a winner. Nothing sells like success.
His record and passion suggest he will bring that….if we can exercise a little patience.
JG
(Source: govolsxtra.com)
Originally posted 12/10/2012
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