Butch Jones has made his return to Neyland Stadium.

The former Tennessee head coach, now an offensive analyst for No. 1 Alabama, stepped off the Crimson Tide team bus Saturday afternoon, ahead of the 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time kickoff (TV: CBS) against his former team.

Jones, Tennessee's head coach from 2013-17, went 34-27 leading the Vols, including a 14-24 SEC record, before being fired last November, after his team went 4-6 through its first 10 games and 0-6 in league play. Tennessee finished the season with the worst record in program history at 4-8 (0-8 SEC).

While still collecting buyout money from the Vols, Jones is being paid $35,000 for his role as analyst.

"Butch can't coach the players," Alabama head coach Nick Saban said during Wednesday's SEC teleconference. "He works hard in terms of assisting our coaches in planning and preparation. Butch is a very bright guy, and he's done a really good job of that.

"Basically what he does is assist (offensive coordinator) Mike (Locksley) as much as possible and always gives me a little summary of things that he thinks we need to work on on offense and just from an overall view from a thousand feet type of thing, which has been very helpful."

Jones peaked as Tennessee's head coach with a pair of 9-4 seasons in 2015 and 2016, including a 5-0 start to the 2016 season. The Vols went 5-7 during his first season, 2013, and improved to 7-6 in 2014.

Tennessee snapped its bowl drought in 2014, winning the TaxSlayer Bowl over Iowa. After finishing second in the SEC East in 2015 and 2016, the Vols won bowl games over Northwestern (Outback Bowl) and Nebraska (Music City Bowl).

Former athletic director John Currie fired Jones last November, following a loss at Missouri, and was eventually replaced himself after a dramatic coaching search yielded multiple candidates but no hire. Currie was placed on leave in December and former longtime football coach Phillip Fulmer was named acting athletic director, hiring Alabama defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt days later.

Pruitt, a Rainsville, Ala., native, who played for Alabama from 1995-96, spent the last two seasons as Saban's defensive coordinator. He jumped into the college ranks as Alabama's director of player personnel in 2007. He became an on-field coach in 2010, taking over defensive backs at Alabama, and later worked as defensive coordinator at Florida State in 2013, the national championship season for the Seminoles, before going to Georgia from 2014-15.

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Pruitt said during an interview on SEC Nation Saturday morning that today's game wasn't about him facing his former boss.

“I don’t think me or Nick, either one, is going to play any plays today,” Pruitt said. “If we did, I think we’d have a lot better advantage.”

“Last night I was sitting there at the house,” Pruitt said later. “I played in this game and I coached in this game as an assistant coach. I was sitting there trying to think. I’m fixing to try to lead Tennessee versus Alabama. I never thought about that growing up, but I’m excited to do it and I can’t wait to see how our guys respond today.”