Vols Hire Butch Jones

Tools

By Sports Department

Story Created: Dec 7, 2012 at 5:28 PM EDT

Story Updated: Dec 7, 2012 at 5:28 PM EDT

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — New Tennessee football coach Butch Jones says he's eager to roll up his sleeves and take over what he called "the best college football program in America."

The 44-year-old Jones said during his introductory news conference Friday that his team "will be a champion in everything we do."

Jones owns a 50-27 record in six seasons as a head coach. He went 27-13 in three seasons at Central Michigan and has gone 23-14 at Cincinnati the last three years. Jones must rebuild a former SEC power that has posted three consecutive losing seasons.

Tennessee had been seeking a new coach since the Nov. 18 firing of Derek Dooley, who went 15-21 in three years. The Vols pursued Jones after getting rebuffed by ESPN analyst Jon Gruden and Louisville coach Charlie Strong.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.

Add a comment

Name:

Comment: 1000 Characters Left

ABC Columbia and its affiliated companies are not responsible for the content of comments posted or for anything arising out of use of the above comments or other interaction among the users. We reserve the right to screen, refuse to post, remove or edit user-generated content at any time and for any or no reason in our absolute and sole discretion without prior notice, although we have no duty to do so or to monitor any Public Forum.

Current Weather

Columbia
Current: 82°
Partly Cloudy
High: 86°
Low: 64°
Wind: 10 MPH
Pressure: 29.90
Humidity: 60 %

What's on WOLOTV Full Schedule