but in a different way
I consistently see the argument that Butch Jones will inevitably be successful here because he was successful at others stops during his coaching career. It is true that he was successful at Central Michigan and again at Cincinnati. However, both times he took over an already successful program, so he basically continued the status quo. At Tennessee that is not true. Essentially he is going to have to rebuild a program, which is something he has yet to do. So far, he is doing a fairly good job, barring some setbacks in game day coaching
To add to this idea that he will be successful solely based on his success at lower level programs, lets look at it from the standpoint of a boxer
Lets say this boxer starts of as a middle weight fighter. He has trained his entire career, so far, to fight boxers of his own weight class and ability. He has shown that he has done well and pretty much handled that level of competition with ease. One day, this boxer gets a chance to move up in weight class. He sees it as the opportunity to challenge himself and prove to himself that he is the best. But, once he does, he realizes that the competition he used to fight is different from what he is fighting now. His new competition is faster, stronger, and more well coached than any boxer he has seen. He notices that is old moves no longer work and that he must get bigger, faster, and stronger to even be able to compete with his new opponents. He notices that the success he was almost guaranteed at his old weight is not as easy at his new weight. But his fans don't see it that way. They look to him as being the dominant fighter like he was before but does not take into account the level he is expected to fight at now. They refuse to believe that he might be just an average fighter at his new weight. They proclaim him champ even before his first match and even after he lost 7 matches out of 12. They point to his one knockout of a favored fighter that he will soon be the next champ and hold the belt high in the ring. Others know that only time will tell if he will be able to conquer his new level of competition and that any shouts of impending glory is simply premature
So, in closing, none of us who show doubt in Jones' abilities is not that we hate him or don't want him to succeed. Its that we have seen this before, heard the same promises, seen the same efforts, seen the same results. We want Jones to succeed, but basing your idea of his future success based on being good at beating lower level competition is asinine. Until he can prove himself at this level and win consistently, what he did at Cincinnati and Central Michigan is irrelevant
:hi:
