Nick Saban Has High Praise For Butch Jones

It’s rare to hear a head coach speak bad about another head coach.

In fact, almost every coach in the country compliments the head coach they’re facing during the week preceding their matchup.

With that said, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Alabama head coach Nick Saban had a lot of positive things to say about Tennessee head coach Butch Jones on Monday.

Saban on Butch Jones, via AL.com:

"I think that Butch has done a really good job there. He’s done a really good job in recruiting. The players really played hard and with a lot of discipline. They don’t get penalized much. They have got very good scheme on both sides of the ball. They are very sound in terms of what they do. I think he focused on coaching his philosophy and what he wants to do to have a successful program and I think the players have responded to it in a positive way. I think they played really well this year. I made this statement before, they lose by three to Georgia and lose by one point to Florida and they are a 5-2 team and everybody looks at them in a completely different light. We have a tremendous amount of respect for Butch and the job he’s doing and their team."

Saban, oddly enough, sounds more positive about Tennessee than some Vol fans do at the moment.

This isn’t just coach speak coming from Saban. They aren’t compliments based on fallacy. These are legitimate areas where Saban is complimenting Jones.

And he’s right that Tennessee is only a couple of plays from being 5-2.

But those plays didn’t go in the Vols’ favor and their record is what it is. But the Vols are still a team that’s capable of pulling an upset. They just have to put together a 60-minute performance, instead of playing lights out for only 20 minutes.

A rivalry game this weekend — in Knoxville — would be the perfect stage for the Volunteers to put it all together.