1. Similar track records
This is the most important factor when hiring a head coach, and Tennessee football hired somebody with a very similar track record to Butch Jones’ in Josh Heupel. To be fair, Jones was the most accomplished head coach UT hired since Phillip Fulmer, but that connection is eery.
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When the Vols hired Jones, he had just spent four years with the Cincinnati Bearcats. Jones went 23-14 in three years there with two Big East Championships and two top 25 finishes. Heupel comes to UT after going 28-8 in three years with the UCF Knights, two top 25 finishes and an American Athletic Conference Championship. The AAC now was the Big East of then.
Even crazier, though, is the fact that they both took over for coaches who had already enjoyed success at that school. When Jones arrived at Cincinnati in 2010, the Bearcats had just gone 12-1 in 2009 under Brian Kelly, enjoying an undefeated regular season. Heupel, meanwhile, replaced Scott Frost, who went 13-0 at UCF in 2017.
So both had success at Big East/AAC schools after taking over for other coaches who had even greater success. Of course, Jones had three more years of success with the Central Michigan Chippewas from 2007 to 2009, winning two MAC Championships at the time. Ironically, he replaced Kelly there as well.
Another difference between Jones and Heupel is, to be fair to Jones, the programs got better under him those three years there. UCF got progressively worse under Heupel, but his record was better overall. What he will do at Tennessee football remains to be seen.