Tennessee Football: 80 career wins for the Champion of Life

There are 80 days till the start of the college football season, and today we focus on one of the best coaches in the SEC.

The Tennessee football program went through some rough years recently. Under Phil Fulmer, the Volunteers were a perennial SEC and national title contender. But since Fulmer was fired, the head coaching position has been a revolving door in Knoxville.

Then, Butch Jones arrived. And that leads us to no. 80 in the Southbound and Down College Football Countdown.

Tennessee’s Butch Jones has 80 career wins as a Head Coach

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Jones owns a 80-48 career record as a head coach at three different stops. He went 27-13 in three years at Central Michigan, 23-14 in three years at Cincinnati, and is now 30-21 in four years at Tennessee.

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The last time the Volunteers went to the SEC championship game was 2007 under Fulmer, and it was also the last time they won 10 games in a season. From 2008-2012, the Vols went 28-34 under Fulmer, Lane Kiffin, and Derek Dooley, and they failed to make a bowl game in four of those seven seasons.

In Jones’ first two seasons in Knoxville, the Vols went 5-7 and 7-6. But the last two seasons have seen back-to-back 9-4 seasons. And while the 9-4 record in 2016 was ultimately a disappointment, Jones has made Tennessee football relevant again.

Jones took over a program that forgot what winning was like. And now Tennessee goes into every game expecting to win. His first obstacle was to end the drought against the Gators. Now all they have to do is get over Crimson Tide hump, which shouldn’t be too difficult, right?

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This season will tell us a lot about Butch Jones and Tennessee, but at the moment, they appear to be headed in the right direction.