Tennessee's Butch Jones should coach with common sense, not off a card

Dan Wolken | USA TODAY Sports

He wins on National Signing Day, he wins with boosters, he wins Monday through Friday.

But until Butch Jones wins big on Saturday, he looks like just another in an inexplicable line of men addicted to losing football games at the University of Tennessee.

Lane Kiffin, Derek Dooley and now Butch Jones, all of them slightly different in the way they've arrived at ineptitude but bearing remarkably similar results. How bad has it gotten in Knoxville? As of today, Kiffin — who subsequently flamed out at USC — looks like the biggest winner of the three.

At least the others had the excuse of coaching bad teams. Jones does not.

Nobody will confuse this version of Tennessee for a national championship contender, but Saturday's 28-27 loss at Florida will stand as one of the most inexplicable results of the season and the biggest indictment yet of Jones' questionable game management.

Leading almost the entire second half and dominating at times against a Florida team with less depth and talent than Tennessee, Jones' performance down the stretch ranks as one of the worst coaching meltdowns you will ever see anywhere.

Two critical mistakes on the sidelines cost Tennessee this game.

Leading 20-7 and fully in control in the third quarter, it appeared the Volunteers held Florida to a field goal attempt on 4th-and-6 from the 25-yard line. But Jones, seemingly afraid of a fake, called timeout before Florida got the kick off. That gave Gators coach Jim McElwian enough time to reconsider; Florida went for the fourth down, got it, then scored a touchdown and stole four points thanks to Jones' timeout.

Then when Tennessee scored with roughly 10 minutes left to increase the lead to 26-14, the obvious decision would have been to go for a two-point conversion. With that little time left in the game, there is absolutely difference between leading by 12 or 13 points. You go for two and try to take a 14-point lead. It's a no-brainer.

But for some reason, Jones kicked the extra point. And it came back to haunt him, big-time.

Florida, a decidedly mediocre team with a young offensive line and a redshirt freshman quarterback who struggled all night to throw the ball, put together a 17-play drive (converting two fourth downs) for a touchdown, then set the stage for an improbable comeback by forcing Tennessee's offense into a three-and-out.

When Florida took the lead on a 63-yard touchdown pass on 4th-and-14, Tennessee fans probably half-expected it. The Vols haven't beaten the Gators since 2004.

But even then, there was enough time to come back and win. After some discombobulated clock management and a penalty, Tennessee had to call its final timeout with three seconds left to avoid a 10-second runoff that would have ended the game so it could try a 55-yard field goal.

It missed. And it means that Tennessee owns two of the three losses this year in all of college football among teams that have led by two scores or more in the fourth quarter.

After the game, Jones defended his decision to go for the extra point, saying he referred to a chart that's "standard" in football.

If that's what the chart says, light it on fire. How about using your brain once in awhile?

But that's Butch Jones, the consummate paint-by-numbers guy who even coaches in cliches. On Tennessee's opening drive in Week 2 against Oklahoma, he drew heavy (and deserved) criticism for kicking a field goal on fourth down from inside the 1-yard line. Tennessee ultimately blew a 17-0 lead and lost in overtime, playing conservative offensively the entire second half.

His record at Tennessee is now 14-15.

It doesn't mean Jones should be fired. He continues to recruit very well, and at some point you can't just change coaches every three years and expect to fix your program.

But Tennessee has lost two games this season, and both of them fall directly on the lap of the head coach. Jones isn't in must-win territory yet, but his quality of life isn't going to be very good for the next few weeks in Knoxville. After floating through his first two seasons and charming Tennessee's fan base with promises of tomorrow, Saturday was the biggest game of his career. And he blew it.

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