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Tennessee coach Butch Jones’ brick-laying is about to net him another contract extension and raise.
According to FootballScoop.com, the Vols are preparing yet another new contract for Jones after the coach led Team 119 to an 8-4 regular season.
The university bumped Jones’ pay by nearly $650,000 per year last December, and extended his contract two years through 2020. He currently makes $3.6 million per season, which is less than every coach in the SEC West.
Jones was roundly criticized for his game management and conservative play-calling early in the season, as the team held second-half leads in all four losses. But Tennessee’s outlook for 2016 is great. And looking at this year’s schedule, two of the team’s losses came against likely College Football Playoff teams Alabama and Oklahoma.
The coach with the clever marketing slogans probably deserves a salary at least on par with Mississippi State’s Dan Mullen and Ole Miss’ Hugh Freeze, who got raises that put their yearly intake at more than $4 million prior to this season.
Tennessee’s current buyout for Jones, at $4 million, is relatively low. But locking him up to something beyond 2020 certainly is a strong move.
An itinerant journalist, Christopher has moved between states 11 times in seven years. Formally an injury-prone Division I 800-meter specialist, he now wanders the Rockies in search of high peaks.
