Butch Jones: Vols Coach is Hip by Ending '3rd Down for What'

Tennessee football head coach Butch Jones showed he can keep the Volunteers current by changing the Lil Jon based ‘Third Down for What’ at Neyland Stadium.

Butch Jones knows what he’s doing. In his fourth year with the Vols, the Tennessee football head coach has already proven his ability to keep up with the fast-changing times among the youth.

After all, he’s one of the first coaches to utilize Twitter and social media for recruiting. When the Vols got the loud speakers to reference Lil Jon and DJ Snake’s song ‘Turn Down for What’ in 2014, it was fresh and new.

Everybody in the millennial generation and younger was jamming out to it. So getting the students to change the phrase to ‘Third Down for What’ every time the Vols’ defense brought up a third down was way more creative, exciting, and rowdy than something as cheesy as car keys.

However, Jones said that won’t be happening this year.

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According to his Monday press conference, the Vols will have different songs to get the fans hyped. This means that he’s replacing the song.

And guess what: That’s brilliant.

As great of a song as ‘Turn Down for What’ is, it’s dead. The song is so 2014 and early 2015. It’s one you can enjoy at a club or a bar, but not one that you’ll remember forever.

And to stay up to date with recruits, the Vols need to stay current.

There’s a whole new crop of songs that came out this year, from EDM to Hip Hop to pop, that they can use.

If Tennessee was using ‘Third Down for What’ into the future, recruits at games would just think that the program is old and outdated, refusing to change with the times.

In case you forgot, that was the big reason for the downturn of the Vols in the 1970s. Johnny Majors had to rebuild it as a result.

Jones is clearly working to not let that happen in the future.

It’s already annoying when marching bands get obsessed with playing 70s and 80s rock music in their scores. Nobody listens to that anymore.

Do something that will draw the attention of the recruits and the youth while keeping the fan base hyped up.

Unfortunately, EDM this year has taken more of a pop direction than the trap direction it had in 2014. It’s still entertaining. However, it has significantly reduced the number of up to date hype songs.

Maybe something with Rihanna’s ‘Work’ could be exciting. If the Vols really wanted to get edgy, ‘Panda’ by Desiigner would have people going.

But that song will be dead by next year.

Still, Butch Jones showed by changing ‘Third Down for What’ that he knows how to keep Tennessee football current. Meanwhile, he is staying up to date on social media.

And that will have a huge impact in recruiting. He just has to keep it up.

must read: Tennessee Football: Top 10 Vols Concerns for 2016

Complain all you want about changing times. Complain all you want about new music. Staying up with it is the only way to appeal to new recruits.

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Tennessee Vols Decision to Replace ‘Third Down for What’ Shows Butch Jones is Clearly Up With the Times

By Caleb Calhoun | Aug 30, 2016

Tennessee football head coach Butch Jones showed he can keep the Volunteers current by changing the Lil Jon based ‘Third Down for What’ at Neyland Stadium.