Tennessee football: Butch Jones gives Alabama no advantage against Vols

Former Tennessee football head coach Butch Jones is an offensive analyst for Alabama. But he won’t be of any use to the Crimson Tide against the Volunteers.

If the Alabama Crimson Tide blow out Tennessee football with ease at Neyland Stadium on Saturday, which is something everybody expects them to do, it won’t be because of Butch Jones. The former Vols coach is an offensive analyst in Tuscaloosa, but don’t worry UT fans. His experience won’t give Bama any advantage.

Generally, when a team faces a former coach in any capacity, that coach has an advantage because of his knowledge of the players. Jones, as an analyst, is getting paid to provide just that: knowledge of other teams Alabama faces. Given the fact that he recruited and coached over 70 percent of the roster on Rocky Top, it seems like this is the perfect game for him to find an edge.

But it won’t be. This is not to knock Jones’s evaluation of talent, although some in Knoxville would slam that too. His failures with Tennessee football are much more abut his gross mismanagement of that talent and his horrendous incompetence in calling games.

Even as being an analyst is a fit for him, though, the change in culture under Jeremy Pruitt provides Jones with nothing to give Nick Saban for this game. Pruitt has completely changed the offensive and defensive systems from what Jones ran. He’s also completely changed how they practice.

Jones used his players to force them into systems that didn’t fit them and focused solely on trying to trick opponents. He implemented a spread offense and a nickel-based 4-3 defense all about guessing what the other team was going to do.

Pruitt’s offense is a pro-style under Tyson Helton, and he runs a 3-4 defense. He also focuses on using his talented players to their advantage in order to create mismatches. There is nothing Jones could give Saban about his knowledge of Tennessee football that he couldn’t give about any other team Alabama has faced this year.

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On top of that, Pruitt is playing lots of guys at new positions. What’s Jones going to be able to say about Darrell Taylor and Deandre Johnson when they’re at outside linebacker? And can he give anything on Daniel Bituli when Bituli has moved inside?

Let’s also address all the players Pruitt is playing that Jones never coached. He’s starting Dominick Wood-Anderson at tight end, two freshmen at cornerback, and giving lots of carries to Jeremy Banks and Madre London at running back.

Then you have Jahmir Johnson and Jerome Carvin on the offensive line, and there are numerous depth guys like Emmit Gooden on the defensive line and Jordan Allen at linebacker Jones never coached. The trenches were a problem at UT anyway under him.

Simply put, no matter what happens on Saturday, Alabama has no extra advantage with Jones on the sidelines. In fact, Tennessee football has a way bigger advantage on coaching familiarity with Jeremy Pruitt leading the Vols.

So don’t expect Jones to have the Tide ready for any tendencies of the previous players he coached. In fact, Jones’s familiarity with those players could hurt him and Alabama depending on what he shares. They were coached so poorly that them being competent now will likely completely throw him off guard.