Personally I like Jones as coach. I felt like we lucked out bc he was supposed to have signed with Colorado and almost did sign with Purdue.
Most analyst thought that Jones would be the top candidate over Strong and assuming that Hart felt Jones was off the market at the time and in full pursuit of Strong, then the whole turn of events went favorably in UT favor. We ended up, I think, with the coach that we wanted prior to Strong, and for less money. Yet people are giving Hart a bad rap. Should Hart have been a little more up front with the fan base? Maybe. If Hart came out and released a statement like, "We are not pursuing Gruden and at this time we have x number of coaches to interview by x date..." then I think the fan base would be more receptive of Jones.
Challenges for Jones:
Energizing the fan base, surrounding himself with a great staff, recruiting.
Challenges for Hart:
I posted some remarks yesterday about the academic challenges and read some good posts- most remarks were informative. After reading some of the feedback, I think the challenges are becoming more apparent - Cheek and Martin. It looks like the athletes are getting the help they need but there are some issues in the upper level of the academia with their support of the athletic department. I think Hart is doing all that he can and for the next few years, these types of challenges will and should be in Hart's court.
If there was ever a time when the fan base and boosters needed to show more support - its now - and in every way possible encourage Coach Jones and Dave Hart. I would love to see the boosters and fans be more vocal about Cheek and Martin doing more to support the AD.