Four Reasons Why the Tennessee Vols Should Not Fire Butch Jones

3. Tennessee has mostly avoided trouble off the field.

Yes, there was the sexual assault lawsuit this past summer. But that involved the entire athletic department and dates back to the 1990s.

Meanwhile, the serious accusations leveled against Butch Jones have been unproven, and he was more than willing to come forward about all of them. He has also refused to run from the issue, educating all the players about the issue of sexual assault and receiving rave reviews from activists given how he’s handled it.

That’s a reflection on how Jones has handled the program overall. There have been no NCAA investigations into the program like there were with Lane Kiffin.

Only a few players have had such problems off the field that he had to dismiss them.

From Phillip Fulmer to Kiffin to Derek Dooley, however, it seemed like the Vols had to dismiss somebody new every week.

That is simply not happening right now in Knoxville, and it has to count for something.

Meanwhile, academics has dramatically improved under Jones. He has presided over improvements in APR scores each year he’s been in Knoxville, to the point that it’s nearly 30 points higher than it was when he took the job.

When Jones took over the program, the Vols were in danger of failing to qualify for the postseason academically. Of course, under Derek Dooley, they weren’t even qualifying for the postseason on the field.

Jones has fixed both issues, and they are only getting better.

All of these things translate to winning on the field. And Butch Jones has got to get some credit for it.